Intertwined Destinies
by Ravenclaw-Girl28
Summary: Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?
1. Meet Jade

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 1: Meet Jade

* * *

Eight-year-old Jade Potter loved school for many reasons, the main reason being that she was able to escape from her relatives for a little more than six hours. Her parents, James and Lily Potter, had died in a car accident when she was very young, and during the darkest part of the night Jade sometimes imagined that she could remember the very instant when first her father died, and then her mother. Her only living relatives were the Dursleys, as Petunia Dursley was Lily Potter's older sister. Her husband, Vernon, and son, Dudley, were two extremely large beings and Jade often thought to herself that the two were wider than they were tall.

At school, for the first time in the seven, almost eight years that she had been living with the Dursleys, Jade was in a different class to Dudley. She was able to concentrate on her work without worrying if a spit ball, a pencil or a dictionary would be flying across the room to hit her in the back of her head. She didn't excel as much as she could, as if she did too much better than her cousin she would be deprived food and locked in the cupboard under the stairs for an undisclosed amount of time. As it was she didn't eat anywhere near enough and was severely malnourished.

However, how much she ate, where she slept, or how she performed at school was not what Jade was thinking about at that moment. Her attention was focused on the letters in her hands, one in English and one in Japanese. At the beginning of school year the teachers decided that to encourage international friendship a Pen-Pal system would be implemented, the Pen Pal Project. They chose Japan because the language that students were studying was Japanese. At the end of the school year, during the summer, the classes involved in the program would have the chance to go to Japan on a summer camp. Jade didn't think that she would be able to go for the simple reason that going would make her happy and her relatives did everything in their power to prevent her happiness.

Anyway, Jade's Pen Pal was a ten-year-old named Taichi Kamiya. He shortened his name to Tai for her, and was in the fifth grade. He loved soccer more than any other sport, and was the star on his soccer team. He had a younger sister named Hikari, though she preferred to be called Kari, and she was in the second grade. Tai was going to celebrate his eleventh birthday on the last weekend of June, and Jade expected to hear all about it during his next letter. This letter, however, spoke of how his soccer team had just won their grand finale. He gave her a play-by-play description of the game, and it was only in the last paragraph that he asked how she was.

About a month into their correspondence Jade had admitted that she wasn't well liked at home. She had no idea why she had done it, but every letter after that was filled with descriptions about different things, be it parties, school, weekends, or soccer, and that allowed Jade to imagine it clearly. At night she would pretend that she was with Tai, experiencing the same things that he was experiencing.

To make up for the lack of information that she had, Jade told him about some of her dreams, the nicer ones anyway. She wrote of a world filled with creatures of every shape, size and personality, with magic around every corner and a guardian that would protect her. Every letter she wrote would describe another dream, and every letter she got asked for more details about her Dream World. Tai had quickly become her best and only friend, and she hoped that she would be allowed to continue to write to him after the school year was over.

She began writing about her most recent dream, including the eggs containing her future protectors and the evil clown who wanted her to be alone forever. She wrote about how scared the dream had made her, but she had a hero who stood in front of her and carried her away from the evil clown. She knew Tai would get a laugh out of it, and maybe he would talk to his friends about it as well.

"Jade? Could you come up here please?"

Jade looked up from her letter, the small smile on her face sliding off as if it had never been there, and walked towards her teacher. Every week she was always asked the same questions, and by now Jade knew that her teacher was sick of it as well. Because Jade was having such success with her Pen Pal, Dudley was jealous. The boy had begun to blame Jade for hiding his letters, or destroying them depending on the mood he was in, and he would make such a fuss that the teachers had pulled Jade up to the principal's office to explain her actions.

The only problem with that was that Jade didn't speak.

As her voice was never heard at home, and her relatives didn't care one iota about her, Jade had stopped trying to get their attention with noise. She never spoke in class because it had become ingrained in her that adults didn't want to hear what she was saying. Her punishment for destroying Dudley's "hard work" was to write a letter to his Pen Pal and apologise. So Jade had two Pen Pals, though she put more effort in with Tai because he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. Not that Sora Takenouchi was horrible to write to, but it was funny how Sora had started to address her letters to Jade instead of Dudley.

"How are Tai and Sora?" Jade's teacher kindly asked. Jade allowed a quick grin to cross her face to signify that they were both doing well. Her teacher, Ms Rein, had always taken Jade's side over Dudley's, and for that Jade loved being in her class. She didn't want to go up to the fifth grade and be in someone else's grade.

"Now, if anyone asks I've scolded you about destroying your cousin's work…again," Ms Rein continued with a sigh at the end of her statement. "But what I really need to talk to you about is your permission slip to go on the camp. You haven't brought it back, why not? I thought you would like to go to Japan more than anyone else in your year."

Jade looked down sadly. It wasn't that she didn't want to go; it was her relatives who didn't want her to go. She stared back up at her teacher sadly and allowed her to attempt to decipher the look.

"I think I need to speak with your aunt and uncle," Ms Rein said after a moment. "Maybe I should mention how abnormal it is that you are the only student who has yet to receive permission to go. It's not like it's costing them anything. The project is funded by the school and the fees they paid at the beginning of the year."

At that Jade grinned in happiness. Ms Rein nodded at her and waved her back to her seat. Jade smiled happily and walked back to her seat. For the rest of class she maintained her happy face, only allowing it to drop when the bell rang for recess. Recess meant Dudley, and Dudley meant pain. It was best not to look happy about meeting him.

* * *

Tai's tongue was poking out of his mouth as he carefully wrote another word in English. He had already written the Japanese portion of his letter, but now he needed to rewrite it in English for Jade. He thought that Jade had the most incredible imagination out of everyone he had met, and loved reading about the Dream World. There were times when he was thinking about her world that he wished it was real, and that there was something familiar about it.

With every letter he wrote he included a photo so that she would have the image to go with his ramblings. He had included photos of him playing soccer, his family, his class photo with a circle around him so she could find him, and individual photos of him doing different things. This time he would include pictures from his birthday, and a wish to see her on summer camp. She had included a few photos of her own, but they were always of her in her at school. Only once had she included a photo of her family, but it hadn't included her. Tai suspected that she wasn't well treated at home, and was scared that one day she would stop writing to him. He had never been particularly engaged in his school work, unless it was sport, but this Pen Pal Project was the best thing that the school could have done to engage him.

The last thing that Jade had sent him was a birthday card that she had created herself, combining both English and Japanese. She had drawn it at school during her free time, and Tai was thinking about what to get her for her birthday. If she was able to come to the summer camp, her birthday would fall in the middle of it. He doubted that she had ever gotten a meaningful birthday present before, so he wanted to get her something nice.

"You must be writing to Jade. There's nothing else that would make you concentrate that much."

Tai looked up quickly, blinking at his best friend. Sora Takenouchi was a tomboy, though she also had a heightened protective instinct when it came to Tai and the others on his soccer team. Tai usually had a few injuries come the end of his soccer match, but he knew he could always count on Sora to mother him worse than his own mother. They had been friends since kindergarten, and had been in the same class every year. She was also writing to Jade, though her Pen Pal was supposed to be Dudley Dursley, Jade's cousin.

"Yeah," Tai answered, eyes returning to his letter. "Has she said anything to you about coming to summer camp? She's been very evasive when I've asked her."

"Only that Dudley would be coming so that I could see his intimidating physic for myself," Sora replied. "Though I couldn't tell if she was joking or not."

"Well, she is intimidated by him," Tai muttered. "Have you seen a picture of him? I'd be intimidated too. He's really fat. Just about wider than he is tall. He must eat five times as much as Jade and if she turned side on I'm pretty sure she'd disappear."

Sora laughed, even though she knew Tai wasn't exaggerating. Every letter that Tai had gotten from Jade, staring from about a month and a half into the project, he had shared with her. Shortly after he had started to share with her, Sora had started to address her letters to Jade because she was tired of never getting anything from Dudley, and was curious about England. Still, every letter she got from Jade usually started off with:

_Dear Sora, I'm sorry for destroying Dudley's letter to you. How have you been?_

She wondered just what Jade's home life was like, and if Jade was alright. She agreed with Tai about being intimidated by Dudley, even at only nine-years-old, almost ten, he was morbidly obese. Jade had warned her that Dudley would be going to the camp, but she had never said anything about coming herself.

"Are you writing about you party?" Sora asked after a while. Tai nodded and put his pen down. When Sora started to talk to you, it was best to pay attention. Besides, Tai knew that he wouldn't get any more work done until she went off to do her own work.

"I get the strangest feeling that she's never had a birthday party before," Tai explained. "So I wanted to tell her what they are supposed to be like. Did you know that she calls them Life Days, so that she can celebrate the fact that she's lived another year. It's not the fact that she was born on that day, it's that she's still alive to see another year. I'm really worried about her."

"I am too," Sora admitted. "But what can we do? Did you tell Mr Fujiama?"

Mr Fujiama was teacher responsible for the Pen Pal Project, and would be the teacher in charge of the summer camp. Tai had spoken to him once about what Jade had written, and while the man had been concerned, there was little that they could do in Japan when Jade lived in England. He informed Tai that if there was a serious problem the teachers at Jade's school would be able to discover it and make the appropriate decisions. Tai had never spoken to him about Jade again.

"Yeah," Tai sighed. "But he said that if there was a problem the teachers in England would find out about it. But, Jade doesn't speak. She just writes everything. Some of her teachers think that she's mentally challenged and don't bother with her. Why would they look when they don't want to find a problem?"

"I guess we'll just have to wait until she comes to summer camp," Sora said reassuringly. "And don't worry so much. You'll get wrinkles."

"I will not!"

"And write about something other than your party. Ask her what her plans are for the summer or something."

Tai grumbled and picked up his pen again. No one other than he ever read his letters, and there was no way that he would tell Sora everything that he wrote down. She didn't need to know that he told Jade more about himself than he had ever told anyone. Jade knew all about his fears, his hopes, and his dreams, just as he knew all about hers. They truly were best friends. All he wanted to do now was actually meet her.

* * *

The last week of the school year and the first few weeks of the summer holidays were tense due to the fact that Ms Rein was constantly calling the Dursleys to ensure that Jade was able to go to Japan, and then once permission was granted Dudley was taken shopping so that he would have some new clothes to wear. Jade was more often than not locked in her cupboard, which also happened to be her bedroom despite the fact that there were two spare bedrooms upstairs, and only released so that she could do her chores.

So as to not raise too many suspicions, Petunia Dursley bought an outfit for Jade to wear. Despite the fact that it had been bought from a discount store, it was the first new outfit that Jade had ever received that hadn't first belonged to Dudley. The skirt was dark green and flared out to stop just above her knees; the shirt was black and baggy, with the sleeves stopping above her elbows; her shoes were ratty old sandals that were falling apart, and probably wouldn't survive the camping the trip; and her back pack, which had belonged to Dudley, was black and green, matching her outfit perfectly.

Into the back pack went a tooth brush, a bottle of water, her blanket that she had had since before she could remember, a hairbrush, other toiletries, paper and pens. Her passport, which she had been given reluctantly, was stowed in the front pocket where she could reach it easily. Just before leaving she had sent another letter to Tai, a short one, saying that she was allowed to go to summer camp and she would meet him when her bus arrived. The Japanese students would get to the campsite a week before the English group, so as to relax a little before they were inundated with foreigners.

At that moment in time Jade was flying over Japan, preparing to land after the twelve hour flight with British Airways. The food provided had been nice, and Jade was happy to say that she had slept for most of the flight. The best part of the flight had been the fact that Dudley was on the other side of the plane and couldn't bother her. Ms Rein was sitting next to her, so Jade had felt relatively safe.

As Tokyo was eight hours ahead of London, Jade was a little shocked getting off the plane thinking that it was two in the afternoon, when in actual fact it was midnight. Looking around at the other English students who were all red eyed and exhausted, Jade knew that it would probably take a bit of adjusting. There was still an hour bus trip to the camp ground, and then after that it would be dinner and bed. At lunch time after everyone awoke, all the English students would be able to meet with their Pen Pal and submerge themselves in Japanese culture. However, at that moment Jade just wanted to get to the campsite and crawl into bed.

She wondered what it would be like to sleep in an actual bed.

Dudley was whining on the other side of the group, and hearing the tone in his voice Jade subtly crept closer to Ms Rein. There were three teachers on the camp with them: Ms Rein, Dudley's teacher Mr Sanders, and the principal Ms Trish. Mr Sanders was Dudley's ally, and in his eye the large boy could do nothing wrong and never told a lie. Ms Trish was neutral, but she had learnt long ago that it was best to keep the parents happy…and if that meant that Jade wasn't treated exactly the same as the other students, that was a consequence she was willing to take.

"Jade, you'll be in the same cabin as Stephanie, Alison and Rebecca," Ms Rein said kindly as she noticed Jade at her side. "We'll have something quick to eat when we arrive, but otherwise breakfast will be in seven hours, six when we arrive."

Jade nodded her understanding but that's all the movement she made. When the group collected their bags, and Jade made sure that everything was still in her backpack, the large group boarded the waiting bus and through the darkness they travelled to the campsite. Jade was once again next to Ms Rein, as the other students had learnt that being nice to her meant getting beaten up by her cousin.

Stephanie, Alison and Rebecca were the quiet girls in the class, though not as quiet as Jade. They never made a fuss, were respectful to their teachers and were perhaps the only students in the school who hadn't picked on Jade in some form or another. Jade hoped that the three would maintain their neutral outlook, but the next two weeks would really demonstrate how much influence Dudley had over their year.

Arriving at the campsite was anticlimactic, simply because it was dark and jetlag was catching up with the group. They were herded into the dining hall, even though only a handful of the English kids ate anything, and Dudley ate everything else. The cabins they would be staying in were spread out across the site, and it took a while to herd everyone to where they would be spending the night. Jade was lucky enough to be in the first group taken out of the dining hall, and she was pretty sure that Dudley had been too busy stuffing his face to notice her absence.

Her cabin, number fourteen, was supposedly overlooking the lake, but as it was too dark Jade would wait to see it once the sun rose. There were two bunk beds, and the other three girls claimed all but the bottom bunk on the bed to the right of the door. It was to that bed that Jade immediately curled up on, hugging her pillow to her chest and making sure that her bag was resting on the end of her bed. The bed was softer than anything she had sat on before, and almost immediately she was unconscious.

* * *

Tai was up early on the day that the English students were supposed to join them. He was aware that they had arrived at midnight, and he vaguely recalled them arriving long after he had retreated to sleep. He was sharing a cabin with a boy named Yamato, though he insisted on being called Matt. Matt was one of the "cool guys" and Tai had yet to see him without his blonde hair covered in gel in all the years that they had been acquaintances. Matt's little brother Takeru was also sharing a cabin with them, but that was more due to the fact that Matt was a little overprotective of him. Takeru looked exactly like Matt, but only in miniature size and with a hat keeping his hair flat. The final person in their cabin was a computer geek who had simply introduced himself as Izzy and retreated into the computer that he carried around with him. Izzy had red hair, and very few people skills, but from just watching him, Tai was pretty certain that there was nothing that Izzy couldn't do with his computer.

Only Matt and Tai had been a part of the Pen Pal Project, with Izzy being in the fourth grade and Takeru being in the second. Matt hadn't really made much of an effort with his partner and wasn't really looking forward to meeting the boy he had been partnered with. For that reason Tai didn't wake him as he snuck out of the room to look for Jade. He threw on a blue shirt, his shorts, gloves and runners, and made sure that his lucky goggles were secured firmly to his head. He never went anywhere without his goggles.

"You're up early Tai."

Tai looked over his shoulder and grinned when he spotted Mr Fujiama walking towards him. He waved and waited for the teacher to come closer before pestering him with questions about the new arrivals. Mr Fujiama laughed at Tai's pestering and held a hand over the boy's mouth so he could speak.

"They arrived last night safely, but they probably won't be up for another few hours yet. They need to get used to the time difference. You will be introduced around lunch time, so go have breakfast and then be back here at twelve. And don't pester anyone else! You will meet your Pen Pal today; you had Jade Potter didn't you?"

"Yes sir," Tai replied. "So she was allowed to come?"

"I haven't been told otherwise," Mr Fujiama assured him. "I was told that all students would be arriving."

Tai sighed in relief. He had gotten a short message from Jade saying that she would be able to come to Japan, but until he saw her for himself he wouldn't trust what the teachers were saying.

The hours passed by slowly. Tai settled himself in his tree and watched as new faces slowly made an appearance from the as yet unused cabins. At first it was only one or two at a time, but as twelve came closer more students made an appearance. The English teachers entered each cabin to ensure that everyone was up, and as soon as Tai saw Sora make her way to the dining hall did he climb down and join her. Matt was standing nearby, Takeru glued to his side, and on the other side of the dining hall were the English students.

"Attention students!" Mr Fujiama called. Echoing after him was one of the English teachers, translating for the foreign students. Silence fell quickly on the Japanese side of the hall, and slowly on the English side. Once there was complete silence Mr Fujiama continued.

"We will be calling out students from Odaiba Elementary first, followed by their Pen Pal from England. The rest of the day will allow you to become acquainted, but I assure you that after today you are not expected to spend the rest of your holiday playing tour guide. However, having said that, I expect that all of you will welcome our guests. Now, Shin Niko…"

Tai rocked back on his heels as the English teacher called out a name and an English student walked forward reluctantly. Apparently there were few students who were actually looking forward to meeting their Pen Pals, in either country. Sora sighed next to him, and Tai followed her gaze towards what had to be the fattest kid he had ever seen.

"That must be Dudley," Sora mumbled. "Jade really under-represented just how big he is."

"She did say that he was wider than he was tall," Tai whispered back out the corner of his mouth. "Do you see Jade yet?"

Sora shook her head slightly, before sighing as her name was called out. She kept her face cautiously blank as Dudley was also called up. Tai winced when Dudley started to talk to her in English, loudly and arrogantly. He wasn't fluent in English, but he had put in some effort because of Jade, and he knew that what Dudley was saying wasn't very polite. Sora didn't know any English, but she did recognise the tone and a whispered conversation with Mr Fujiama confirmed that she needed to spend at least the next hour or so with Dudley.

They went off outside, each clearly disgusted with the other. Other pairs had left together, but not one had looked excited about the rest of the afternoon. Tai's name was called near the end of the list, and he eagerly walked up to where Mr Fujiama was waiting for him. Before he could catch a glimpse of Jade, Mr Fujiama pulled him aside and whispered a few warnings to him.

"Ms Trish, the principal of Surrey Primary, has asked me to warn you that Jade Potter is a troubled student."

"She didn't sound…troubled in her letters," Tai whispered back.

"It's what I've been told, so just…be wary when you're with her. If anything happened to any one of you it'd be my head that parents would be calling for."

"You worry too much," Tai told him. "I'll be fine. Can I meet her now?"

Mr Fujiama nodded and Tai turned in time to see a young girl who looked no older than Takeru walking up to him. Her hair was dark and untidy, though she appeared to have attempted to straighten it with her fingers before arriving, and her eyes were the brightest green that Tai had ever seen. The pictures of her did absolutely no justice to her, and all Tai could do when he saw her was smile. He had practiced with other students his English greetings, as he had wanted to make a good impression. It had been easier learning how to write English, as there it didn't matter if his pronunciation was off.

"Hello Jade," he said in English. "I am Tai. Nice to meet you."

He figured that he had succeeded when Jade smiled at him. She extended her hand to shake his and he figured that some of his relief had shown on his face as she started to lead him outside after a quick glance at the female teacher behind her. Tai went with her willingly, his hand still encasing hers.

* * *

Jade had only slept for a few hours before getting up and walking around the campsite. The lake had been spectacular, and if she had known how to swim she would have made her way over to test the temperature. As it was, she knew that she would be tempting her bad luck, so instead she walked the length of the site and committed it to memory. As the clock ticked over to twelve, Jade made her way back to the dining hall where the rest of her classmates were. Ms Rein was going to be acting as translator, and would be repeating everything that the Japanese teacher would be explaining.

"Attention students!" Ms Rein called in English, half a beat behind the Japanese teacher. Jade waited patiently for the students around her to quieten. Once everyone was silent Ms Rein and the Japanese teacher continued. "We will be calling out students from Odaiba Elementary first, followed by their Pen Pal from Surrey Primary. The rest of the day will allow you to become acquainted, but I assure you that after today you are not expected to spend the rest of your holiday stuck with your Pen Pal. Now, Jessica Hilton…"

Jade's eyes scanned the mass of Japanese students on the other side of the hall. She had photos of Tai, and she was pretty sure that she had identified him when Dudley went up and insulted his Pen Pal, Sora. She sighed, glad that she had written a note for Sora to apologise for Dudley's behaviour. It was in her pocket and she made a mental note to see the older girl some time before dinner. Dudley and Sora left the hall, each thoroughly disgusted with the other, Dudley because Sora couldn't speak English and Sora because Dudley was disgusting. A few students after that and Tai's name was called out. Jade quietly made her way up, wondering what Tai's teacher was telling him. He was tall, though that could have been due to the fact that his brown hair was sticking up in every direction and held in place with a set of goggles. His brown eyes widened when he saw her, and then a wide grin spread across his face. Jade couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Hello Jade," Tai said in English. "I am Tai. Nice to meet you."

Not one other student had gone through the effort to greet their Pen Pal in English, and Jade was amazed that Tai would do so for her. She held out her hand for him to shake, and he took it with relief in his eyes. Jade gently pulled on his hand, leading him outside. She glanced quickly at Ms Rein, who made a shooing motion to her; she continued leading the other boy outside. Tai took over once they were in the open. Lunch was provided between twelve and two, so Jade and Tai would be able to get to know each other before eating.

Tai led Jade to his tree, and helped her to climb it so that they would be pretty much undisturbed for the rest of the afternoon. Jade shimmied out on the branch, whereas Tai used the trunk for a back rest. The two stared at each other for a long time, one not sure what to say and the other unwilling to say anything. In the end Jade pulled out a note book and pencil and wrote out a short sentence in Japanese characters, tongue sticking out from between her lips as she did so. She handed it to Tai who glanced at it curiously, humorously noting that they both stuck their tongues out when concentrating.

_I understand a little Japanese. But don't speak too fast because I am still new at this._

"You can understand Japanese?" Tai asked, in Japanese. Jade nodded, and in response Tai grinned happily, laughing a little.

"This is great!" he said. "Out of everyone involved in the Project it seemed that I was the only one excited to meet my partner! And I could see that that was true in England as well. Sora will be happy to see you; she's been eagerly awaiting you as well. Sympathies will be coming your way now that she has finally met the giant pig."

Jade giggled at that. She completely agreed with Tai, but there were others in her class who appeared to be willing to get along with their Pen Pal for half a day at least. For the next few hours Tai asked questions of her that she could answer without speaking: how was the flight, was the food any good, do you want to play soccer later, what cabin are you in, what do you think of school, what do you think of Japan so far, etc.

"Tai? Have you ditched your Pen Pal already?"

Jade looked down through the branches and spotted a blonde boy with a smaller version of him walking around his feet. Tai looked down as well, before grinning and shaking his head.

"Nope! You run away from your Pen Pal then?"

"No, they ran away from me. It's hard to communicate when you don't speak the same language, or have any desire to figure out what everyone's saying. Where's your Pen Pal?"

Jade moved into sight by shuffling closer to Tai. She swung her legs and gave a wave to the blonde boy, before staring at Tai curiously. He understood what she wanted to know.

"This is Matt," he said. "The littler kid is his brother, Takeru. We share a cabin and I may have bragged about you to everyone."

Jade blinked, slightly puzzled why anyone would want to brag about her, before turning back to Matt and Takeru. Matt stared up at her with intense curiosity.

"Hey Tai? Does your Pen Pal speak Japanese?"

"No idea," Tai stated with a laugh. "Jade doesn't speak at all. But she does understand what we're saying. And if she doesn't then we just need to write it down and she'll be able to translate it for herself."

"Cool!" Takeru declared. "Do you want to play with me, Jade?"

"We're going to find Sora soon, little buddy," Tai told him. "We have to rescue her from a fat pig that probably wants to eat her."

Takeru laughed, but Jade knew that Tai was being completely serious. He and Sora had known each other since kindergarten, and cared about each other a lot. They had played on the same soccer team for a while, and used to live in the same building complex. To help him decide Jade leapt from the tree, turning her land into a graceful role so she wouldn't hurt herself. Tai shouted in alarm as she jumped, but after seeing that she was alright breathed a sigh of relief and joined her on the ground.

"That was so cool!" Takeru explained. "How did you do that?!"

"If I ever see you doing that TK, I'm telling mum," Matt said before Jade could as much as blink. She assumed that TK was Takeru's nickname, and decided that she would show the boy how to roll later…when his brother wasn't around.

"Obviously you do that a lot back in England," Tai observed as he joined them. "You're very light on your feet. Does this mean you want to find Sora?"

Jade nodded, and turned her head to listen for her cousin. Dudley was always very loud and easy to locate, so it was towards the commotion that she started to navigate towards. Tai, Matt and TK followed her, and Jade easily heard TK asking Matt how she knew where to go.

"She's listening for the loud, fat kid from earlier," Matt told him. "Do you remember him?"

"Oh yeah," TK stated, and Jade imagined his eyes widening. "He was really fat. Is he human?"

Jade was interested in hearing Matt's reply, but at that moment she spotted Dudley and his gang surrounding Sora, without a teacher in sight. She started to run forward, recognising the glint in Dudley's eyes. He only looked at her like that when he was about to hurt her. Sora looked like she was ready for a fight, and Jade wondered where Sora's other friends were, and if they were hunting for a teacher.

Before Dudley could do anything that he probably wouldn't regret Jade collided with Sora, sending her to the ground, and receiving the punch that would have hit Sora in the back. Due to her smaller height, and lighter physic, Jade caught the punch on the side of her head and went flying through the air. Stunned, she lay face down on the ground without moving until the earth beneath her stopped shifting.

"What's going on here?!"

Jade remained still. The teacher had spoken in Japanese, so Jade knew that there was no escape for Dudley and his gang. Numerous voices started speaking at once, English and Japanese alike. Dudley was prominent amongst the English speakers, and he was blaming Jade for picking on Sora and trying to attack her. Unfortunately for him, the teacher was Japanese and therefore was not in the pocket of the Dursleys. He believed Sora when she explained how the boys had ganged up on her and if Jade hadn't pushed her aside she would have been beaten up.

While the explanation went on Jade attempted to sit up. A warm hand on her back ensured that she stayed on the ground, and another hand softly touched her head where the punch had landed. She flinched as it caused more pain. It wasn't Tai, but she could hear his voice nearby.

"Hey, don't move alright?" a new voice told her. "You probably have a concussion. Can you move your fingers and toes for me?"

Jade didn't see a problem with obeying the order, as it was something she did to ensure that she could still move all parts of her body. She lifted her fingers one at time on each hand, creating a miniature wave that could have been called a lazy wave, and flexed and pointed her feet. There was still a hand on her back, though the one near her face was gone.

"That's good," the voice told her. "I'm going to help you roll over onto your back, alright? Don't go too fast or you could get sick."

Once again it wasn't too hard to obey that order, so Jade grabbed onto a supporting arm and with her eyes still closed rolled from her front to her back. The warm hand rested on her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun. The voice asked her to open them, so Jade did and found herself staring up at a boy with blue hair and glasses. He was older than the other children, so Jade assumed that he hadn't been a part of the Pen Pal Project.

"Hello there," he greeted with a smile. "My name's Joe. What's yours?"

"Her name's Jade," Tai said, appearing in her line of sight. "She doesn't speak."

"Oh," Joe blinked in surprise. "Well, um, Jade is it? Can you track my finger?"

Joe moved his hand from left to right, and Jade attempted to follow it. She was fine on the left, but too far to the right and her head pounded uncomfortably. Joe and Tai helped her to sit up, and Jade held tightly to Tai's arm when the earth underneath her moved.

"You'll tell us if you're about to throw up right?" Joe asked, noticing how her face lost all colour. With her face as pale as it was, the rapidly forming bruise beside her right eye was very prominent. Jade focused on Joe for a moment, nodding slightly.

"Is she alright?" Sora asked, kneeling in front of the trio. Jade blinked at her, forcing away the black spots.

"Concussion," Joe explained. "She should be fine. Some ice and rest will fix her up in no time at all. But to be safe I think someone should stay with her for a while and wake her up every hour to make sure she doesn't slip into a coma or anything."

"That's a brilliant idea Joe," the teacher stated, joining the conversation. "I need to go and have a talk with these English teachers. If this is the behaviour that they allow at their school, I'm going to have to actually use those secluded cabins to keep you kids separate."

"From what Jade's told me," Tai began. "Her cousin is allowed to get away with a lot more than normally allowed because everyone's afraid of him. That, and he blames Jade for everything so she gets punished and he gets away free."

"He won't be able to do that here," the teacher stated with a scowl. He swapped to English to speak with Jade, and waited until she was tracking him. "Why don't you go back to your cabin? I'll let one of your teachers know where you are. And thank you for helping Sora, but in the future if there's trouble could you find a teacher instead? That we you won't get hurt."

Jade cautiously nodded, not that she had any intention of getting a teacher if she needed help. She had been dealing with Dudley since she had arrived at the Dursley's house; she knew what to do with him better than any teacher would. The teacher looked at her uncertainly, probably recognising the indecision in her eyes, but otherwise allowed Tai and Joe to lead her away whilst he ordered Dudley and his gang to the dining hall where the other teachers were still waking up.

Being as short as she was, Tai obviously found it easier to lift her and carry her with one arm around her back and the other under her knees. Jade linked her arms around his neck in fear of being off the ground, but otherwise didn't move. She knew that it was best she didn't walk because otherwise she would pass out or throw up. Sora, Joe, Matt and TK followed behind them, and Sora volunteered to stay with Jade as she was the only girl in their little procession. Joe promised that he would return every hour to make sure Jade hadn't fallen into a coma, Matt promised to talk later before pulling TK away, and Tai promised to keep a watch for Dudley to make sure that they wouldn't be accosted without warning.

Sora sat near the head of the bed and Jade's head was placed on her lap. Running her fingers through the younger girls hair, Sora smiled as Jade relaxed, falling asleep almost instantly. The smile faded from her face as her mind flashed back to the attack. She had spent an hour or so with Dudley, watching as he and his gang mucked around. Their attention had been elsewhere, until Sora decided that she had had enough of watching them and set about leaving. She had wanted to find Tai and meet Jade, but before she could go too far Dudley and his gang had surrounded her. Dudley had said something to her, in that arrogant tone of his, and Sora knew that she was in trouble. She prepared to fight, as she knew she wouldn't be able to escape all of them, but before she could move a muscle a small body had crashed into her.

When she looked up it was to see a small girl face down on the ground and not moving. Mr Fujiama appeared and told of Dudley, and during that time she discovered that the girl who had tried to protect her was the one she wanted to see. Jade Potter had stopped her from getting hurt at the expense of her own health. All at once she felt incredibly guilty, though she knew that it wasn't her fault Dudley was a bully. To make for her feelings of guilt, and spend some time with the only English student she wanted to spend time with, she volunteered to sit with Jade to make sure she wouldn't slip into a coma. It was clear to her that Tai really wanted to sit with her, but cabin fourteen was a girls' cabin and as a boy he wasn't allowed to enter.

"Why'd you do it Jade?" she asked softly, her hand gently brushing Jade's hair. "Mr Fujiama wasn't far away; he would have stopped it before it got too out of hand. And I'm bigger than you, harder to hurt."

Sora relaxed against the wall and started to hum a soft tune. When one of the boys returned she would ask them for a book, there was no way that she'd move now that Jade was comfortable. She continued to hum even as more footsteps reached her ears. It didn't sound like Dudley's, the boy would still be with Mr Fujiama getting chewed out for being a bully, and it didn't sound like a child. When the door opened quickly Sora got a good look at the English teacher who had stood beside Mr Fujiama at the introductions earlier.

"Good afternoon," the woman said in Japanese. "How's Jade?"

"Sleeping, I think," Sora replied. "What's your name? I'm Sora."

"Oh, I'm Elizabeth Rein," the woman replied after blinking in shock. "Sorry, I guess I was a little distracted. Jade's always getting hurt and at times I think I'm the only one who worries about her."

"Dudley and his gang do this often then?" Sora asked.

"Not that I can prove it, but yes," Ms Rein said as she sat on the bed rested her hand over Jade's. Sora frowned as she felt Jade tense up at the contact, having thought that the girl was asleep.

"Why don't you do anything about it?" Sora asked, her hand continuing to move across Jade's head as if she were petting a cat.

"I have tried, but when Jade doesn't speak in her defense, and no one else wants to speak up against Dudley, it's hard to prove that anything bad has happened at all. I keep Jade with me when I can, but at recess, lunch and before and after school…just watching her run from her cousin is heart breaking. Especially after what happened to her parents."

"Her parents?" Sora repeated. "Tai said that they were killed in a car accident."

"Car accident?" Ms Rein echoed in shock. "Good Lord no! James and Lily Potter were respectable people who were killed by a serial killer almost eight years ago. The fact that Jade survived at all is a miracle! I was still in school when it happened, but I remember the articles about it. Car accident? What have the Dursleys been telling her?"

"Did you know her parents?"

"No, but they were friends with my cousin Peter. He was killed eight years ago. Before working at Surrey Primary I had always wondered what happened to Jade. It's sad, but if I make too much of a fuss I know I will be sacked and then Jade won't have anyone!"

Elizabeth Rein was an orphan who had lived with her aunt and cousin growing up. Her cousin, Peter Pettigrew, was six years older than her and went to an elite boarding school that was only accessible to those who received an invite. Not everyone was accepted, and there weren't any enrolment forms to apply. At first Elizabeth had been really jealous of Peter, especially after she turned eleven and wasn't accepted to Hogwarts. But as the years went on and the stories Peter told became wilder and wilder, she accepted that she would always be happier in the normal world.

She did, however, know all about the war with You-Know-Who. She had been with her aunt when she received the notice telling her that Peter had died trying to avenge James and Lily Potter, and that the government would be giving him an award posthumously. Elizabeth had cried for a whole week before becoming even more dedicated in her work. She had been fifteen at the time, and now at twenty-three she was happy with her accomplishments.

"Ms Rein?" Sora asked, breaking into the woman's thoughts. "What punishment will Dudley receive? Will he be sent home?"

"Mr Sanders and Ms Trish are firmly on Dudley's side," Ms Rein replied, snorting in disgust and shaking her head. "I doubt they'd send him home."

"He should be put into a juvenile detention centre," Sora mumbled. "He's a menace to society. Where are his boundaries? He's going to seriously hurt someone one day and the consequences won't mean anything to him."

"I don't know Sora. But could you and your friends keep an eye on Jade for me when I can't? She's so quiet, if you're not looking for her you'd miss her completely. I hate to say it, but sometimes I forget that she's there at all."

"Don't worry, we'll look after her," Sora promised. "I know that Tai has heaps of activities that he wants to do with Jade. He's probably the only one in the Program who has been looking forward to this meeting, and the only one who engaged with it."

Ms Rein laughed and left the cabin. Sora shook her head with a smile before focusing on Jade. The girl had relaxed as soon as Ms Rein had removed her hand, and Sora wondered why.

"Your teacher cares for you," she whispered to the girl. "The other teachers I can understand you not trusting, they sound like horrible people. But I wouldn't push away those who genuinely care. Ms Rein will protect you as much as she can."

Jade opened her eyes and rolled onto her back so that she could stare up at Sora. She nodded slowly, though still uncertain. Sora smiled at her and ordered her to go back to sleep. She would need all the energy she could get if she wanted to keep up with Tai's plans.

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 2: It Begins..._**


	2. It Begins

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 2: It Begins…

* * *

For the rest of the week the Japanese students were able to see exactly how vindictive Dudley could be. Dudley wasn't sent home, though he was sent to seclusion for the rest of that first day so that he couldn't bother anyone. The second day that the English students were on camp Dudley had deliberately tripped Jade as she was walking to a table in the dining hall during dinner. Her food went everywhere and as Mr Sanders had gotten to her first she was deprived the food that had fallen and was forced to clean up the hall after all the children had finished eating. Because Dudley had heard the order, he and his friends had made as much mess as possible.

Tai and Sora remained behind with her, letting her eat some of the food they had saved for her, and helping to clean up the dining hall. All the Japanese children had seen Dudley trip her, and more would have stayed but the teachers waved them off.

During the week Dudley had pushed Jade into the lake when she was playing with TK, and because she couldn't swim she struggled about in fear. Tai had seen the incident and jumped into the water to save her, and when Mr Sanders appeared to find out what was happening, Dudley explained that Tai was trying to drown Jade. Tai would have been sent to seclusion for trying to injure another child if it hadn't been for the numerous Japanese children who witnessed the event and backed up Tai's side of the story. Instead Dudley was sent to seclusion.

Another incident proved how much influence Dudley had over the English students. He had managed to get one of Jade's roommates to steal her shoes and he threw them away so that she couldn't wear them. One of the camp rules was that children weren't allowed in the dining hall without shoes on and as Jade only had the one pair she was unable to eat. Sora had gone around speaking with other girls to see who had shoes in Jade's size, so that crisis had been averted.

But since it was clear to many children that Jade was no longer safe in her own cabin, Tai and Sora approached the teachers asking if Jade could be moved into Sora's cabin as there was an extra bed. The Japanese teachers didn't have a problem with that, and neither did Ms Rein, but Mr Sanders and Ms Trish kicked up a huge fuss about how it wasn't fair to the others. Ms Rein helped Jade move her belongings anyway. After that Jade carried her backpack with all her remaining belongings around with her, no matter what she was doing.

Finally, July 31 arrived, and Tai had a surprise for Jade. The night before he had spoken with the camp cook and arranged to have a small birthday cake, a cup cake really, made so that Jade would have something small just for her. It was made of chocolate and the cook had even found a little candle to use. So when Jade and Tai were sitting in their tree, Jade without shoes on because no one actually had shoes in her size, Tai presented her with her first ever birthday cake that she could remember.

"Happy Life Day Jade!" Tai stated when he handed over the cake. "Let me light the candle so that you can make a wish. Make it a good wish, because I couldn't fit nine candles on it. Ready?"

Jade had tears in her eyes as she accepted the cup cake, lit candle and all. She closed her eyes as instructed and made a wish to visit her dream world, for there she had felt completely safe and accepted. She blew out the candle and broke the cake in half to share with Tai. Her smile was contagious and Tai was grinning like a loon as he ate his half of the cake. He had another gift in his pockets for her, a bracelet that his sister had helped him to make before he left on camp. Kari had been unable to attend the camp due to a summer cold, but she had enjoyed helping him make the bracelet.

The bracelet had a charm on it with "Jade" written in traditional Japanese characters. The charm was interwoven with strands of black, green, red and blue, and Kari had come up with the little clasp that would prevent it from falling off her wrist. When Jade saw the bracelet her eyes just about overflowed with tears and she allowed Tai to tie it around her right wrist. Overwrought with emotion, Jade threw her arms around Tai's neck and silently cried into his neck. Tai just held her and once she was calm they sat together watching the other children play.

Tai had wanted to remain in the tree all day so as to avoid Dudley, and had even arranged for one of his friends to bring them a snack so that they wouldn't go hungry…not that Jade would complain about going hungry as she never complained about anything. However, his plans were in ruins when the sky opened up and blanketed the camp ground in snow. Snow! In a panic as the day had gone from warm to freezing instantly, Tai scurried down the tree and pulled Jade closer to him to protect her from the weather.

The nearest cabin was his, and already he could see that six others had crowded inside to wait out the storm. Shaking his head to clear his hair of snow, Tai collapsed on his bed with Jade next to him. Looking around the room he nodded to everyone he knew. Izzy was still on his bed, having moved from the balcony to indoors to prevent any damage from getting to his computer, and Matt and TK hadn't left yet so they were still inside. Sora and Joe were also amongst the group, though Joe was complaining about how he hadn't even wanted to go to summer camp, and Sora was gazing out the window in concern and confusion. The final person in the cabin was a girl dressed entirely in pink, and Tai was pretty sure that her name was Mimi.

"Weird weather," Tai commented to Matt, who happened to be the closest to him.

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "It's the middle of summer. Why's it snowing?"

"Don't know," Tai mumbled, before his eyes lit up. "Hey, we could have toboggan races!"

Jade's ears perked up at the thought of toboggan races. She had watched the billy carts race down the hill earlier in the week and wished that she could have joined in. Dudley had been in her way however, so she hadn't. But, with her shoes missing, and no spare shoes in the cabin she was currently in, her bare feet would freeze instantly when she went outside. Her eyes stared down at her feet miserably.

"Hey Jade, why so sad?" Sora asked. Jade looked up before wiggling her feet. Sora nodded in understanding before clicking her fingers as an idea struck her. "I can't do anything about your feet, but I do have my mini hairbrush with me. Can I brush your hair whilst the storm rages on? When it's over we can go find some shoes for you."

Jade nodded. Several times during the week she had sat in front of Sora by the lake whilst the girl brushed her hair. She loved it, and she knew that Sora loved to brush her hair simply because there was a lot of it. It hung down passed her shoulders and almost to her elbows, but she never did anything with it. Besides, it was soothing having someone else to brush her hair. It made her think of her mother, or how she imagined her mother would be if she were still alive.

"This storm is messing with my infrared internet connection," the boy with the computer mumbled, looking from his laptop to the phone in his hand. Jade looked at him serenely as the brush went through her hair, freeing it of tangles. Tai sighed next to her, but otherwise ignored his roommate.

"What's wrong with it?" Joe asked, sitting on the end of the red head's bed and looking over his shoulder at the computer.

"There's too much interference between here and the satellites," the boy explained as he shut the computer and returned it to his backpack, which instantly went onto his back. "It's not just a snow storm; it's an electrical storm of some description."

"I want to build a snow man," TK announced having taken Sora's spot by the window. "I'm going to make the biggest and bestest snowman out of everyone at camp!"

"I wish I brought my fluffy pink snow boots," the girl in pink declared. "They would be perfect for this weather. Daddy brought them for me last winter and I've only worn them a couple of times. Oh, I wish I had my fluffy pink gloves, and my fluffy pink scarf, and my fluffy pink beanie…"

"Mimi, quit complaining," Matt stated, though not completely unkindly. "Everyone's probably wishing for their snow gear, no one would have brought stuff like that to a summer camp. Maybe they'll cancel camp."

"I hope not," Tai stated in reply. "I don't want to go home just yet. And where would the English students go? Are they going to stay here or go home a week early?"

Jade shrugged. She didn't know what would happen to her, but whatever did happen didn't matter to her. She had just experienced the best week of her life, and she had had a birthday cake and received a birthday present that was for her and not something that used to belong to Dudley. Thinking of her present she glanced down at the bracelet and jiggled it on her wrist, a smile appearing on her face.

"Looks like the snow's stopped falling," Joe said, interrupting the silence that had fallen as they all stared at Jade.

"Yay! I'm getting started on my snowman!" TK cried.

"TK, be careful!" Matt ordered, following TK as he left the cabin at light speed. Sora put her brush away and stood to go outside. The wind brushed passed them all and Sora shivered, moaning about not bringing a jacket. Joe balked at the thought of going outside, muttering about colds and pneumonia, but Mimi pushed him from behind and he went sprawling in the snow. Tai pushed Jade out onto the balcony as the snow hadn't reached there yet, but it was still cold. So Jade jumped up onto the railing and swung her legs as she looked out at the field of white where originally there had been nothing but green.

"Whoa," Tai breathed, and Jade followed his eye line up. Her own eyes widened as she finally took in what was happening. Colourful ribbons covered the sky, blues, greens, whites and even some pinks, rippling and moving however they liked. Tai called out to the computer boy, who he called Izzy, and as soon as the boy was outside the comments started.

"It's so beautiful," Mimi declared. "Why it's magical even."

"Yeah," Izzy agreed slowly. "But what is it?"

Jade blinked at him. As he always had his head in a computer, and seemed knowledgeable about the storm that had surprised them, she had assumed that he would recognise whatever it was instantly. Instead Sora asked if it was an aurora.

"You mean Aurora Borealis, the northern lights?" Izzy asked her. "That's impossible. You see that in Alaska, we're way too far south."

"Tell that to the snow," Sora told him. Her eyes looked over a Jade and nodded seeing that her feet were clear off the ground. Joe shuffled nervously, walking backwards to the cabin,

"I really think we should get inside before we all come down with pneumonia."

"And miss this?" Matt asked incredulously. "The sky's like…short-circuiting."

Jade agreed with him, and didn't even need Tai's shout to see that something had changed. Directly ahead of them was a bright green spiral light, with seven distinct arms. It was slowly getting bigger, and from the centre was another light. An instant later the spiral became a collection of seven meteors rocketing through the sky to crash in front of the children. There were screams, and Matt shielded TK with his body, but no one was hurt. Jade ran towards Tai, her feet protesting at the sudden temperature drop.

"Is everyone alright?" Sora asked as the snow cloud cleared.

"We're still here," Matt announced, TK nodding as he stared around wide-eyed.

"That was scary," Mimi added, holding onto her pink cowboy hat.

"What was that?" Joe screamed in fear. Tai looked down at Jade, and her feet in the snow, before swinging her onto his back. Jade wrapped her arms around his neck as Izzy looked into one of the craters the meteors had created.

"Are they meteors?" he asked himself. The little craters started to glow blue, and the meteor rose into the air without anyone touching them. "Okay, so not meteors."

Tai reached out and grabbed his as it rose to chest height, his other hand keeping Jade on his back. The two of them studied it curiously, and from the corner of her eye Jade noticed everyone else grabbing the little devices. The device was palm sized and a pale blue colour. There were two darker blue buttons on the right side, oval in appearance, and on the left was another button more circular in appearance. In the centre was a screen, completely black, and surrounding the screen were runes of some kind. Finally, on the top left corner was what Jade could only describe as an antenna.

She wondered why she was the only one without one.

"What are these?" Sora asked in fascination.

"My guess is some sort of remote digital apparatus," Izzy explained.

"No instructions?" Joe asked. The devices chose that moment to activate. The screens lit up like a torch, the green glow blinding Jade momentarily. But it was as the light hit Jade's eyes that something in her mind changed. The devices looked familiar, like she had seen them before, like she had seen them in a dream.

"Oh no!" Mimi cried in horror, one hand holding the device and the other her hat.

"Forget the instructions!" Tai ordered, taking one step back and shielding Jade as best as he could. "Surf's up!"

The ground before them split apart and a wall of water rose up to blot out the sky. Jade felt a pull and then she was flying sideways through the air. During the movement she lost contact with Tai, and as she flew she noticed that the water had turned into a bridge of some kind, leading them to where they needed to go. Warmth flooded through her body, supporting her and guiding her, and after a brief flash of colour there was nothing but darkness.

* * *

Waking up was a strange and slightly painful experience. First there was too much light, and then there was loud screaming, and then chilling silence. Jade forced her body to sit up, and then she blinked as she couldn't recognise any of her surroundings. It looked like she was in the middle of a forest, but that was impossible because there hadn't been that many trees at camp. It was also a lot warmer than camp. Crossing her legs, Jade rested her hands in her lap and looked around, trying to spot anyone she knew.

When nothing made sense, which hadn't taken long, Jade stood and started to walk in a random direction in the hope of spotting something familiar.

_Where am I?_ Jade thought with a touch of fear. Her ears could pick up a range of different sounds, and as scared as she was becoming she knew that she had heard the same sounds before. Her dream world had similar sounds when the protectors fought each other, but her dream world wasn't a real place, it was just a sanctuary that she had created in her loneliness to give her hope.

"Somebody help me!"

Jade spun at the scream. That had been Mimi. She ran in the direction of the sound, leaping over small rocks and bushes, and straight into the path of a giant red and black bug. Her eyes went wide as the bug's pincers came closer to her and her body froze. A gaping mouth containing razor sharp teeth opened wider as the bug came closer. The bug, which looked like a beetle but only hundreds of times bigger than an actual beetle, roared at her and an emotion that wasn't fear brushed over her. Sadness, loneliness and hunger invaded her senses, and then a pink ball-like creature with long ears collided with her, pushing her out of the path.

"Do you want to be Kuwagamon food?" the pink thing asked. "Why didn't you move away?"

Jade blinked at the pink thing, before her eyes sought out the beetle. She connected the image in her mind with the name Kuwagamon, it seemed so familiar to her, but she only had a vague idea why.

"Jade? Are you alright?"

Jade looked up as Tai appeared in front of her, and the pink thing jumped into his arms. She took a shuddering breath before pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head in her knees. Her human ball shape was something that Ms Rein was very familiar with as she often took on ball form for a few minutes after recess and lunchtime each day to calm down.

"Is she alright?" Jade heard the pink thing ask.

"I don't know Koromon," Tai replied. "Jade? Are you hurt?"

Jade shook her head, adding another image and name to her mental list. Koromon had just saved her life, but she still had no idea what she had felt before he had knocked her over. At the time she hadn't felt particularly sad or lonely, but she was always hungry, yet at the same time she knew that the feelings hadn't been hers. She had a strange feeling that she had been able to feel Kuwagamon's emotions.

"Jade's here too?" Sora asked. "Is she hurt?"

"She doesn't look to be," Tai replied. "Come on Jade, you're safe here. We're all here as well."

Jade looked up slightly, her fringe hiding her eyes but allowing her to see everyone. Every child who had caught one of the devices also had a little creature beside them or in their arms. Sora has a little pink thing next to her, but unlike Koromon it had a blue flower on top of its head. It was feminine in appearance, and its green eyes were much more pleasant to look at than Koromon's red eyes.

By Izzy's feet was another pink creature that was less like a ball and more like a mini ghost with little stumps for hands. This creature had brown eyes, and was currently staring at Jade with a lot of curiosity. Next to Izzy was Joe, and his little creature was hanging onto his shoulder. This creature wasn't pink at all; instead it was a dark grey seal type creature with a white underbelly, blue eyes and a tuft of orange hair sticking up on the top of its head. Matt's creature was a ball with light brown fur covering most of it, white fur over its face, brown eyes and a wicked looking horn protruding from its forehead. TK's creature was like a white pig, with long ears, fangs, black eyes and four little legs. And finally was Mimi's creature. This creature had four legs as well, but was green with two green leaves sitting on top of its head. Its face was white and it had red eyes, but overall Jade thought that it looked like a plant that had decided to one day stand up and walk around.

Jade's eyes wandered back to Tai, and she lifted her head a little more so that they could at least see her eyes. Tai held out his hand for hers, and after staring at it for a moment Jade grabbed it, allowing Tai to pull her to her feet. There was a roar in the distance and each child and creature instinctively looked towards it.

"He's coming back!" Tai cried out unnecessarily. "Get down!"

As everyone dropped to the ground Tai pulled Jade close to him to protect her. He had noticed that while everyone else had a partner, Jade had been alone. Jade looked at Kuwagamon who had knocked them to the ground. He was flying back for another pass at them, and she wondered what was motivating him. Did this creature, despite feeling lonely, want to be alone? Is that why he was chasing them away? Or was this some kind of game that they didn't know the rules for?

"Will this nightmare never end?" Joe asked dramatically, climbing to his feet. "My mom is going to want a complete and total refund!"

"Here he comes again," Matt warned.

"Start running!" Tai ordered. "There's no way we can fight that thing and win!"

"Good plan," Sora agreed, already turning to run with her little creature moving with her. Everyone ran after her, the roar of Kuwagamon on their heels. Jade's hand was safely secured in Tai's as she was dragged along. She was a fast runner normally, needing to run from Dudley and his gang all the time, but Tai was a champion soccer player and was way faster than her. The two of them shot into the lead, but Jade figured they had made a wrong turn at one point due to the fact that as they left the protection of the trees they ended up standing on a plateau.

"Great," Matt gasped as they came to a stop. "Did anyone bring a helicopter?"

Tai released Jade's hand and started to walk towards the end of the plateau, clearly intending to look for a way down. Sora cautioned him to be careful, and since she wasn't anywhere near the edge Jade crept closer to her and fisted her hand into the older girl's shirt. Sora looked down at her in concern, and wrapped her arm around Jade's shoulders comfortingly.

"There's no way down," Tai announced. "We're going to have to find another way."

"Another way to where?" Sora asked. Jade blinked her agreement, but before Tai could answer there was another roar behind them and Kuwagamon appeared. The children flattened themselves on the ground, with Sora holding Jade protectively. Jade looked up after the wind had died down and gasped when she saw that Kuwagamon was making a return attack at Tai. Sora looked up at her gasp and shouted out a warning to Tai. Tai started to run, but everyone could see that he wouldn't make it to safety.

And then Koromon darted forward and attacked Kuwagamon with tiny pink bubbles, causing no damage but throwing off Kuwagamon's flight trajectory so that Tai wouldn't be hurt. Jade's heart ached with longing when she saw the protectiveness of Koromon and the other creatures when they leapt forward to drive Kuwagamon away from the other children.

"Yokomon!" Sora cried as the little pink thing with a blue flower on its head leapt up in front of her. Kuwagamon crashed into the trees behind them, and as soon as he was down the children were up and running for their partners. Tai was holding Koromon, and Sora was holding Yokomon, but as the children moved Jade was able to give a name to each creature.

Matt picked up Tsunomon, the creature with the horn on its head; TK gathered Tokomon, the white creature with long ears, into his arms; Joe went to Bukamon, the dark grey seal; Izzy lifted Motimon, the waddling ghost, with amazement and awe; and Mimi pulled Tanemon, the walking plant, onto her lap. Jade was left standing on her own, and the longing in her chest grew stronger. Each of the children before her had a partner that was willing to fight a creature far stronger than they were, simply because they cared about their human companion and wanted to make a good impression. Jade turned her face from the scene, her arms wrapping around her body in self-comfort.

Anger suddenly invaded her senses, though it wasn't her own. A roar from Kuwagamon, who had apparently decided that it was better to be lonely than to be attacked, echoed across the plateau and the trees that had broken his fall were pushed aside easily. Jade watched, frozen to the spot, as the giant red and black beetle walked towards them clicking his pincers together. She felt sorry for him.

"Jade! Get back!" Matt ordered. At his voice Jade blinked, breaking through her immovability, and turned to run to the others. She stood behind them, putting herself fairly close to the edge of the plateau, but she didn't really see much of a choice as they were stuck between a drop and an angry insect. They had trapped themselves.

"Okay," Tai stated. "Get ready to run."

"No!" Koromon stated. "We stand and fight! It's the only way out of this!"

"Give it a rest already!" Tai snapped back. "You're injured!"

The other creatures echoed Koromon's statements in their own way, and all seven of them leapt forward. Jade's chest hurt, and she whimpered as she pressed her hands against it. The devices that the children had attached to their person erupted with light, and their creature partners began to glow and change. From beyond her pain, Jade could hear the creatures shouting:

"Koromon digivolve to – Agumon!"

"Yokomon digivolve to – Biyomon!"

"Motimon digivolve to – Tentomon!"

"Tsunomon digivolve to – Gabumon!"

"Tokomon digivolve to – Patamon!"

"Bukamon digivolve to – Gomamon!"

"Tanemon digivolve to – Palmon!"

The pain in her chest faded, and Jade sunk to her knees. When she opened her eyes and stared ahead, the little creatures weren't so little anymore. There was now a little orange dinosaur, a pink bird, a green plant like creature, a flying robot insect, a pig whose wings were its ears, a white and purple seal like creature, and a creature wearing a fur coat with a yellow horn sprouting from its head.

The creatures attacked Kuwagamon together, and their attacks were a lot stronger now. Kuwagamon was pushed back again, but while the others celebrated with their larger partners, Jade could feel the anger getting stronger. Her arms went around her body again, hugging herself so that she could pretend that there was someone holding her. She wanted to be safe, that's all she wanted, that's all she'd ever wanted.

The children screamed as Kuwagamon returned again, but this time instead of attacking them directly he jammed his pincers into the ground and broke off the edge of the plateau. They all fell as the laws of gravity took hold. As the closest to the edge Jade fell first, and she screamed the whole way down.

The three creatures who could fly grabbed a hold of their partners: Sora, TK and Izzy, but as they were only recently changed or evolved, they were unable to maintain flight and they fell anyway. The green plant like creature grabbed a hold of Mimi and used its vines to grab a hold of the rock wall. It was a good idea but with how unstable Kuwagamon had made the cliff the rocks crumbled and they continued to fall as well.

Jade hit the water first, and for a brief moment she considered not struggling at all. Joe hit the water after her, and his partner who had become the white and purple seal like creature summoned a school of fish to act as a raft for them. The fish appeared under Jade and lifted her above the water. She coughed and spluttered as her body fought to expel the water she had swallowed, and she looked up as the other children landed on the raft.

The former plateau landed in the water behind them, creating giant waves that nearly sent them all off the makeshift raft. High above them Kuwagamon let out a mournful cry before disappearing again, and Jade imagined that she knew exactly how it felt. She really wanted a friend as well.

Once the waves died down the fish raft let the children and creatures get off near the shore, where each of them sat down in relief. Jade sat on the fringes of the group, not feeling like she belonged at all. She curled up into her human ball again as her eyes flickered from person to person, and creature to creature. She still didn't know what the little creatures were.

"I knew we'd be okay, I wasn't worried," Matt told everyone. Jade's eyes snapped to him and if she had been a little braver she probably would have thrown a rock at him.

"What was that?" Joe asked, ignoring Matt. "A floating fish market?"

"Lucky for us those fish were having a school reunion," the white and purple creature quipped with a grin. Joe looked at him incredulously. "I'm kidding. Those fish are good friends of mine and I just asked them for a lift."

"And all these years I thought I was allergic to seafood!" Joe replied with a happy grin. "Thank you! Ah, I guess it's not Bukamon?"

"I'm Gomamon now!"

Jade looked at Gomamon, even as the other children questioned their partners. TK's partner changed from Tokomon to Patamon, the tan and white pig with ear wings; Izzy's partner went from Motimon to Tentomon, the reddish pink and purple flying robot insect; Sora's partner went from Yokomon to Biyomon, the pink bird with a silver brace on her left foot; Matt's partner went from Tsunomon to Gabumon, the yellow creature wearing a blue fur coat and a wicked yellow horn sticking out of his forehead; Mimi's partner went from Tanemon to Palmon, the green plant like creature with a pink flower in the place of hair; and Tai's partner went from Koromon to Agumon, the orange dinosaur.

"It's all because we digivolved!" Agumon explained.

"So digivolving is what happens when they advance to the next level and become more powerful than before," Izzy theorised.

"When you digivolved you certainly got way bigger," Tai observed. "Does this mean that you're something different now or are you still digimon?"

"Digimon," Agumon replied. "But I needed you help Tai!"

"For what?"

"You see, digivolving is a very difficult process. In order to be successful I had to share your energy."

Jade blinked again. So the creatures were actually called digimon, and they were linked to their partners. Jade knew that what she had just heard was familiar, and she silently promised herself that she would never make another birthday wish if this is what she would get. She began to think that during the snow storm she had hit her head and was now hallucinating about her dream world, though what she had just been through felt more real than any of her dreams had.

"I'm not a stranger Joe!" Gomamon said after Joe mentioned he was uncomfortable sharing energy with strangers. "I'm your friend for life!"

Gomamon sounded hurt and looking over at his miserable face Jade briefly felt that same hurt. She shook her head to rid herself of the feeling. Her dreams never had her feeling emotions that weren't hers. The conversation around her continued along a different train of thought, so she rested her head on her knees again. She was now wet, and had a headache, and her chest hurt and was feeling more miserable than usual. She hoped that everything was just a dream and she would wake up.

"Jade, we're leaving now. Are you alright?"

Jade looked up at Tai, hiding nothing on her face. While the other kids might not realise the danger they were in due to the fact that they had protectors, Jade was alone and she was scared. Tai helped her to stand, but instead of getting her to walk he put her on his back piggyback style, and carried her away from the river. She looped her hands around his neck weakly, lacking the motivation to do much else.

Tai walked at the front of the group and Jade figured that it was because he liked to be in charge of his own destiny. He was a leader, and that's why he was the star on his soccer team. He had the ability to inspire people, and the take charge in a sea of turmoil. Jade was glad that he was with them.

"Once I get back this is going to make one great story," Tai stated a little while down the track. His eyes glanced back at Jade who was hiding her head in the junction of his neck and shoulders, not paying attention to anything. "Of course, not a single soul would ever believe me. Maybe I could write it down like you Jade. This does seem to be a bit like your dream world, doesn't it? There are creatures here of different shapes, sizes and personalities. And there are some who protect us."

Jade nodded slightly, proving that she was listening to him. She agreed with Tai, but how had she been able to dream about a world like this one? The Digital World was a real place, had she been to it before when she was younger? She just didn't know anything anymore.

Gabumon announced that they were near the beach, and Gomamon, who was swimming, laughed in delight as the water he was swimming in changed from fresh to salt. TK laughed as well, mind focused on building the biggest sandcastle, walking that little bit quicker so as to arrive faster, and Mimi groaned as she hadn't brought her bathing suit with her.

"Wait a minute!" Matt called. "Can you hear that? Listen!"

Everyone stopped, and Jade lifted her head a little to hear the sound better. Floating on the wind was a shrill ringing. Each of them recognised the sound of the phone, and before anyone could think of anything to do they were running forwards. The ringing became louder until five phone booths sitting innocently on the beach were visible. Even with Jade on his back Tai was in the lead, though as soon as he opened the door to the ringing phone booth, the ringing stopped.

"Why'd it stop ringing Tai?" Agumon asked.

"Wrong number?" Tai told him uncertainly.

"That's bizarre," Sora noted.

"My theory is aliens," Izzy explained seriously. "They've obviously set these phone booths out as a trap."

"If we can find a place that delivers, let's order pizza," Matt suggested.

"Whatever you get, no anchovies for me!" Mimi told him.

"The question is, what are these booths doing here at the beach?" Sora asked, casting a slightly disapproving glance towards Matt and Mimi. Jade slid off Tai's back but kept her hand attached to his shirt. The other children crowded around them but not for long as the lure of calling home became too much and they darted towards a pay phone each. Jade had never used a phone before, even in pretend, and saw no reason to rectify that knowledge any time soon. Instead she made her way over to Gomamon had hugged him.

"What's that for?" Gomamon asked curiously. Jade squeezed him a little tighter and whispered into his ear.

"For saving us all."

It was the most she'd spoken in years, not that the digimon would understand that. Gomamon's white fur took on a reddish tinge as he blushed, a tinge that became darker as the other digimon spoke their thanks. Jade, with Gomamon still in her arms, walked further up the beach so that they could rest in the shade of the rocky cliffs. One by one, the other children joined her having given up on calling for help. That is, every child aside from Joe who appeared to be trying to call every phone number he knew.

"Very curious, does Joe always behave like this?" Izzy asked, staring at back at Joe.

"Every single day," Tai replied. He had taken a seat next to Agumon, and the two of them were comfortably reclined.

"No matter what number, or how many times he dials, those phones aren't going to work," Matt added.

"Well, I'm going to keep searching for a boat of something," Tai said, standing up smoothly.

"Hey wait a minute!" Matt cried. "Even though we can't call out of here, there's always a chance that someone might be able to call into us."

"It's a waste of time doing nothing but sitting here," Tai told him.

"I'm going to stay here for a while in case anyone calls," Matt shot back. "Besides, everyone could use a little rest."

Tai's eyes panned over the group who were sitting still, exhausted. He and Jade stared at each other, but after a moment he nodded and looked back towards Matt. Izzy was standing next to him, and decided to add his own voice to the discussion.

"I'm getting hungry."

"You know why? Because we haven't eaten anything all day," Tai told the younger boy. "That snow storm interrupted us. Break time everyone!"

Jade, as well as everyone else nearby, relaxed in relief. Whilst Jade had eaten her chocolate birthday cake earlier that morning, it had only been a few mouthfuls and her stomach was beginning to protest the lack of food in it…again. Sora asked if anyone had food with them, rummaging around in her pockets as she spoke, before pulling out the device that had pulled them into the Digital World. No one said anything about Jade not having one, for which she was grateful, but the conversation didn't last long as the need for food outweighed the need for knowledge.

Sora had a few medical supplies in her belt bag, nothing edible, but if one of them got hurt Sora would be able to use her bandages to fix them up. Izzy had his computer gear and Tai had his mini telescope. Matt had nothing, but TK's backpack was filled with snacks that he had snuck onto the camp. Jade wondered how the boy had kept his secret stash hidden for two weeks, or if he had spent his money at the convenience store that was just a short walk from the camp. Mimi was the biggest surprise though; she had a huge assortment of camping supplies like a pocket knife, cooking fuel, flashlight and a compass. Jade only had her toiletries, her blanket that was still wet and would need to dry, pens and wet paper, and her water bottle. Her passport was with Ms Rein to prevent it from getting lost.

When the others were moaning about the lack of food, Tai had noticed that Joe was carrying the bag of emergency supplies. The atmosphere lightened and Joe finally abandoned the phone booths to assist in the equal division of food. Gomamon decided that he wanted to go swimming, and leapt away gracefully until his body could submerge under the gentle waves on the water.

With the group in a circle, Jade found herself between Tai and Mimi. Mimi was listening patiently as Joe and Izzy worked out the mathematics involved, but Tai had grabbed the nearest jar of biscuits and was showing Agumon what human food tasted like. Tai also gave a few biscuits to Jade, and she ate them slowly with a smile on her face. Joe started to scold Tai, but before he could say much more Biyomon stood up with a frown.

"Now what's the matter?" Sora asked, turning away from the quarrel between Joe and Tai.

"Trouble," Biyomon explained. Everyone turned to follow the pink bird's gaze, in time to witness a geyser erupting from the sand not far from them. The geyser moved sideways, and the phone booths were demolished instantly. Tai grabbed Jade's hand, pulling her away as quickly as he could. Jade looked back at where their bags were still sitting, and momentarily contemplated going back for hers.

_Get off my beach…_

The sound gently brushed Jade's mind, though nothing was gentle about the anger behind it. That anger dissuaded Jade from returning for her bag. A digimon that bore some resemblance to a hermit crab, though many times larger, rose from the sand with a growl. Tentomon explained that Shellmon, the digimon in front of them, got mad for no reason.

Shellmon's shell was greyish blue in colour, with many sharp spikes. Shellmon's body, when it appeared from the shell, was bright pink with a head like a dinosaur and two massive arms that were used to drag the shell along the ground. Shellmon's hair had the consistency of seaweed, and was a similar colour to seaweed as well. When he attacked, a jet of high pressured water exploded from the centre of his seaweed hair.

The digimon leapt forward to defend their partners, but aside from Agumon, not one of them had any effect on their opponent. Jade was still standing with Tai, though the reason for that was Tai hadn't released her hand yet. Agumon leapt forward again, being the only one able to fight, whilst the other kids gathered their digimon partners, discovering that in order to fight successfully, digimon needed food just as much if not more than humans did.

"Looks like it's just you and me Agumon!" Tai called.

"Then give me a diversion!" Agumon ordered. Tai released Jade's hand, placing it on her head briefly in reassurance, before running forward and waving his hands like a maniac.

"Hey Shellmon! Ugly! Over here!"

Shellmon turned to face the human boy, and Jade covered her mouth in horror. It was like watching a car accident, too painful to watch but impossible to turn away from. Tai's diversion had worked though, and Agumon landed a powerful blast of fire. Tai spotted a long pole from the smashed up phone booths and used it as a battering ram against the soft underbelly that was visible from Tai's height. Shellmon revealed that his hair was more than just decorative, and used a single strand to wrap around Tai's waist, lifting him high into the air.

Tai screamed as Shellmon tightened his grip, crushing Tai's ribs. More water hit the children who could do nothing but watch, and Agumon was buried under Shellmon's hand. The whole situation seemed hopeless. Tai screamed again, his pain broadcasting just fine. Jade's chest started to hurt again, and both her hands clutched at it. Her eyes narrowed in on Tai, and she screamed his name in fear.

"TAI!"

Tai's device started to glow like it had earlier, and a matching light came from Agumon under Shellmon's hand. Shellmon lifted his hand from Agumon, his attention momentarily caught by confusion, and Agumon digivolved.

"Agumon digivolve to – Greymon!"

Greymon was an orange dinosaur that looked like a T-Rex, with blue stripes across his back and tail. His head had some form of brown helmet, protection for when he wanted to solve his problems by using his head, and three horns: two where his ears might have been, and one shooting up from his nose. He crashed into Shellmon.

Shellmon was unsettled, and in the push Tai was released. He went flying through the air before crashing onto the sand with a pained grunt. Jade was by his side before he could sit up, and her arms wrapped around him. The pain in her chest was lesser now, but it was still there, and the anger she was feeling was stronger than earlier. She knew that the anger came from Shellmon. Tai wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, even though his eyes were focused on Shellmon and Greymon. Jade too, turned to look, though she didn't move from Tai's side.

Greymon and Shellmon stared at each other as if they were in a sumo wrestling match. Neither moved, and then Shellmon grew impatient and strode across the sand to head butt Greymon's chest. Greymon didn't move under the pressure, and used his strong hands to push Shellmon back. Seeing that being physical wasn't working, Shellmon let loose another sprout of water, and Greymon let loose a hose of fire. The two elements met in mid-air creating a cloud of steam. Shellmon ran out of water first, but before he could recover Greymon threw him into the air and sent him flying with another fire attack.

Greymon started to glow again, but instead of getting bigger he became smaller until he was Agumon again. Jade was reluctant to let go of Tai, but she did anyway because he wanted to see if Agumon was alright. She hugged herself while the children decided that it would be in their best interests to feed the digimon so that their energy levels could be refreshed. On his way back to the group, Tai threw his spare arm across Jade's shoulder as his other one was resting on Agumon's head, and led her to the others so that she would be included.

"There's no point in staying here now," Tai decided as they watched the digimon eat. Jade was still by his side though her head now rested against his chest. His heartbeat thumped strongly under her ear.

"Who wants to break the news to Joe?" Matt asked. Joe was amongst the rubble of the phone booths, still unwilling to give up that help could be requested.

"Shellmon wasn't destroyed," Izzy pointed out, "Just temporarily removed. We should pack up and leave before he decides he wants to come back for round two."

"Good idea," Matt agreed.

"In that case," Joe shrilly exclaimed, standing up and leaving the ruined phone booths. "We should go back to the forest because if anyone's looking for us that's where they'll go!"

"Joe, we've had this conversation before," Sora said gently, "Even if there are people looking for us back at camp we're clearly so far from there that they might not even know where to start looking, besides all that we fell off a mountain and floated down a river to get here and getting back is a really big job."

"Plus if we go back up there we could run into Kuwagamon," Mimi added with a shudder.

"Listen, aliens aside, logically speaking if there are phones here there must be people around to use them," Izzy speculated. "So, I think it makes good sense to try and find those people."

"That makes sense?" said Joe sceptically.

"It certainly does," Sora said.

Jade nodded as well, though she didn't really think there'd be other people around. The digimon finished eating their snacks, and judging by their happy smiles they were quite satisfied. Jade slipped from Tai's hold, though she knew that he was watching her even as he continued to speak with the older kids. She walked over to where Agumon was, and like with Gomamon, she pulled the little dinosaur into a hug. She didn't say anything, though she knew that Agumon had gotten the message.

"You're welcome Jade," he said. "Don't worry; we'll protect you as well. You'll be safe with us."

Jade smiled and returned to the others. They had decided to leave the beach, so with her hand linked with Tai's she walked. Her backpack was once again safely with her, though she lamented the fact she wasn't wearing shoes. As she walked she wondered what they would find next.

Why were they in the Digital World?

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 3: Howl at the Moon_**


	3. Howl at the Moon

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 3: Howl at the Moon

* * *

The children and digimon had several options about what to do to prepare for the setting sun. They could have gone back the way they had come and taken a different road to leave the beach, they could have continued to walk along the beach until the rock wall became smaller or disappeared completely, or they could simply climb the rock wall and be done with it. The beach was surrounded by rocky cliffs, and except for the path by the river, there was no way to simply walk off it. Of course, by the time this was realised the children had already walked a fair distance and didn't want to go back.

The digimon who could fly, Patamon, Biyomon and Tentomon, had no trouble getting to the top of the cliff. Similarly, Palmon was able to use her _Poison Ivy_ attack which had her fingers lengthening into long vines, in order to skip the climbing and just arrive. Agumon and Gabumon were able to climb the cliff fairly well as they both had hands and feet, but Gomamon was more seal like and needed assistance. So Jade had Gomamon hold onto her shoulders and together they surprised the other children by almost flying to the top.

"Wow Jade," Sora said once she collapsed at the top. "How did you get so good at climbing?"

Jade just shrugged with a small smile on her face. Tai ruffled her hair as he passed her in order to get a good view of how far they had walked, and how far they had to go. He did speak for Jade though, turning his head to look at Sora.

"She climbs trees whenever she can, and is very fast on her feet. Her cousin is too fat to chase her when she climbs."

Jade nodded to signify that Tai was correct, and darted over to his side so that she could observe the island as well. The sun was going down, and she estimated that there was still three hours of daylight left. She was curious as to where they would sleep, as she really liked the feeling of sleeping on something soft, but wouldn't cause a stir if the only place to sleep was the ground. She had slept outside before when she was too late in finishing her chores and all the doors were locked. There was a comfortable spot in the garden where she was mostly protected from the weather, and was softer than her threadbare mattress in her cupboard.

"Who's that digimon?" Izzy asked. Jade turned around and spotted another creature staring at them. This one was slightly smaller than Shellmon, but appeared to be a triceratops with armoured plating across his back, tail, head and knees. Under the armour plating was a white hide, and sprouting from his nose was a very prominent horn. Jade tilted her head slightly, wondering what this one wanted.

"That's Monochromon," Tentomon explained. "Don't worry about him, he's a pretty laid back digimon."

The Monochromon roared at them, and very slowly Jade twisted her hand into Tai's shirt. Several of the children looked between Tentomon and Monochromon uncertainly, and Tentomon cleared his throat nervously.

"Although, it is wise to be a bit cautious with Monochromon, they do tend to get a bit miffed when they're hungry."

_You're not my rival…_

Jade gasped as the thought crossed her mind. Tai looked down at her before looking back up at the others. The Monochromon roared again, and there was the faint hint of displeasure in this sound.

"Then he must be starving because he looks really mad," Tai informed the others.

"I think he wants to eat us!" Mimi screamed.

_RIVAL!_

"Ah! There's two of them!" Joe screamed. They all turned and saw another Monochromon appear from behind a rocky outcropping.

"We're caught between a rock and two sets of teeth!" Matt added. His hands were resting protectively on TK's shoulders, so when he pushed his brother with the order to run, everyone obeyed and no one was left behind. Jade moved as she was still holding onto Tai, and while she was terrified, she was also curious about what rival Monochromon did when they met. She winced when they butt heads, and decided that she really didn't need to see how the fight would end.

"They're fighting over territory," Tentomon told them as they ran. Jade looked at the flying digimon, wondering how he had come to that conclusion. She was unable to think too much on it however, for as soon as she turned her head she noticed TK had tripped right in front of them. To prevent stepping on his or tripping over him, Jade jumped over him and continued running. Behind her she could hear the Monochromon still fighting, and then there was a roar and a splash. She guessed that they had fallen off the cliff into the water below.

The leaders of the group, Mimi and Palmon, stopped running after a while and the group gratefully slowed to walking speed. Jade released Tai's shirt, and walked beside Agumon. The dinosaur digimon was the same size she was so she was able to grab onto his hand and walk comfortably. Agumon smiled at her and swung his arm so that whenever they walked their arms would swing in half circles. It was more fun than Jade anticipated it being.

"I don't walk this much unless I'm at a mall," Mimi moaned. "And as you can see we're nowhere near one!"

"Mimi, stop whining," Tai told her as he walked past her without pausing.

"No! My feet hurt!" Mimi snapped at him, reclining against a nearby tree. Agumon and Jade stopped next to her, and Jade tilted her head to the side curiously. Agumon, however, was full of suggestions.

"Maybe if you'd take off your boots and socks you'd feel better Mimi. It's much more practical I think."

"I'm not walking and dirtying my bare feet!" Mimi told him, looking at him incredulously.

"I love the feeling of dirt under my feet," Palmon added. "Especially between my toes!"

"Gross!"

"Is walking in bare feet something that humans don't do?" Biyomon asked as she came closer.

"Not usually," Sora explained.

"Oh, then why doesn't Jade have shoes?"

The digimon and humans nearby looked down at Jade's bare feet. The trek through the river, the beach, and now dirt path had given her feet a very dirty look. Jade looked down at her feet as well, wiggling her toes.

"Jade's shoes went missing when we were back at camp," Sora explained. "She's been wearing my shoes but since her feet are so small she prefers to walk around without shoes."

Jade nodded and started to walk again, it was getting darker and she wanted to be somewhere sheltered before dark. Agumon walked with her, but the others waited a little before following. Sora and Mimi both watched the girl in concern, and the digimon in curiosity.

"It appears that we are losing our light source," Izzy stated after a while, looking up at the sunset sky.

"What a weird sunset," Sora said, agreeing with Izzy.

"This whole island is weird!" Izzy continued. "And who knows what will come out at night?"

"Wait! I detect water!" Tentomon suddenly cried. "Wait here while I check it out."

Jade stopped walking when the others did, content to wait for Tentomon. Mimi sunk to the ground with a sigh of relief, whilst the others found trees to lean on or sit under. Jade remained in the middle of the path for she knew that with her current energy levels, if she sat down it would be very difficult to get back up again.

"How are your feet Jade?" Tai asked. Jade tilted her hand from side to side, not perfect but not bad. She knew she'd be fine after a good rest. Tai didn't look like he believed her, but that could have been due to the fact that she was exhausted and swaying where she was standing. She hoped that the water Tentomon detected was nearby.

"Yes, as usual I'm right," Tentomon said as he returned. "It's a lake with fresh clean water, and a variety of tasty fish. It's a perfect campsite."

"Maybe I can finally soak my poor achy feet," Mimi stated.

"Yay! We get to swim!" Gomamon cried in delight, darting forward in excitement. Joe stopped him with fast reflexes, grabbing Gomamon's tail and stopping his forward momentum.

"Gomamon! You'd better wait an make sure it's safe first!"

Agumon pulled on Jade's hand and she stumbled slightly, having not expected the tug, and continued walking. Everyone was tired, and she had already been carried once that day, but everyone still stood and walked tiredly onwards.

Arriving at the lake was a relief, and for Jade a curiosity. With the setting sun the lake had taken on a pink tinge, but in the centre of the lake were power poles of all shapes and sizes, some with their cables training in the water. She hoped that there was no current going through them, though if Tentomon said there were fish in the water she assumed that there wasn't an electrical current.

"It should be safe to rest here tonight," Biyomon said happily.

"Yeah," Sora agreed with just as much enthusiasm. "I love camping outside!"

"If I won't walk in dirt, what makes you think I'll sleep in it?" Mimi asked Tai, who was standing next to her.

"Mimi, do you see a hotel here?" Tai asked her in reply. Jade rubbed her eyes tiredly. More often than not now her eyes were closed, and it was only due to Agumon's grip on her hand that she was able to maintain her forward movement. Mimi gasped and Jade forced her eyes open so that she could stare at what had captured the girl's attention.

"What's that?" Tai asked in shock. Jade blinked as well, now apprehensive about spending the night by the lake.

"It looks like a trolley car," TK said.

"That's odd," Izzy said. "The lights just…came on."

"Well maybe there are some real people in there," Sora suggested.

"Let's check it out!" Tai called, already running. Agumon went with him having let go of Jade's hand, and Jade slowly brought up the rear of the procession. She went as far as the stone bridge before stopping, unwilling to walk over the water. She looked around nervously, alone again. Her arms went around her body, and she took several steps backwards.

"Why didn't you go with the others?"

Jade jumped as Gomamon's head broke through the still surface of the water. She shook her head and sat down, clearly stating that she didn't want to. Gomamon climbed out of the water and padded over to her, putting his paws on her shins as she had retreated into her human ball form again.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked. "Is it the water? I'll save you if you fall in."

Jade smiled slightly into her knees. Gomamon had correctly guessed her fear, and while it was kind of him to offer assistance, she still couldn't bring herself to cross over the bridge. Gomamon butted his head against her legs in concern.

"Jade! What are you doing over there? You shouldn't disappear like that."

Jade peeked through her fringe at Tai. He clearly had run from the trolley cart to where she was sitting, and she felt guilty for worrying him. No one had ever worried about her before, and it made her feel warm inside.

"She's afraid of the water," Gomamon explained from where he was still sitting by her legs. "That's why she didn't come across with everyone."

"I'm sorry Jade," Tai said in a softer tone. "I guess we were all excited about the possibility of seeing other people that we just charged ahead. There was no one on the cart, but despite that we're going to spend the night inside it. I'll carry you across if it would make you feel better."

Jade shook her head and finally looked all the way up so that Tai could see her reluctance and fear. Agumon appeared from behind him and knelt next to Jade. He knocked his head gently against Jade's.

"We're going to collect some fruit," he explained. "Would you like to come with us?"

Jade nodded and uncurled from her spot on the floor. She swayed slightly, and Tai's concern became more focused. Agumon waved his partner off and took Jade's hand.

"Don't worry Tai, we'll look after her!"

Agumon led Jade through the trees, pointing out what was edible and what wasn't. After a while the other digimon joined her, and there was much laughter as they worked together to collect some food. Jade sat down next to the pile of fruit, and before she knew it she was drifting off. Her blinks became longer and her head dropped to her chest. She allowed her body to fall to the side and moments later she was asleep.

* * *

Tai watched as Agumon led Jade away, not moving from his position. The other digimon trailed passed him, except for Gomamon who returned to the water. Sora appeared at his side, curiosity on her face. She asked about Jade.

"She's afraid of the water," Tai explained. "She couldn't walk across the bridge so she was left behind. She's so tired, she's almost asleep on her feet."

"Did you notice earlier?" Sora asked. "She called your name."

"Yeah," Tai sighed. "She was shaking so much when I hit the ground. I feared she would never let go."

"How are your ribs?"

"Bruised, but I'll live. There's nothing to do but wait for the bruises to fade."

"How bad Tai?"

Tai looked around before leading Sora into the trees so that the other children couldn't spy on them. He lifted his shirt for Sora to see, and she gasped at the bruises already visible against his tanned skin. Thick ribbons on black and red snaked around his torso, and Sora could only imagine how painful it was.

"You're always doing this," she told him sternly. "Why are you hiding your injuries? You know I don't like it when you do that."

"The others don't need to see this," Tai told her as he lowered his shirt. "The bruises will heal, it's just going to take a few days."

Sora sighed, but she did agree with Tai's reasoning, and he had shown her when she asked him to. She led them back out of the trees so that they could make a small fire pit for the fish that Izzy and TK promised to catch. Matt was already there with a pile of rocks and was artistically placing them in a circle. He looked up as they approached.

"There you are," he stated. "Was wondering where you'd disappeared to."

"Just talking about Jade," Tai told him, bending to help with the rocks. "She worries me."

"I think she worries everyone," Matt told him. "Have you noticed that she's the only one without a digivice and a digimon partner?"

"Yeah," Tai said. "She was on my back when the digivices landed in front of us. I've been thinking about that, maybe she wasn't supposed to come here, but because I was holding onto her she was pulled into this strange world."

"You can't blame yourself for that Tai," Sora ordered. "There's no way that any of us could have known what the digivices would do."

"But I was holding onto her," Tai protested. "If anything happens to her it will be my fault."

"You are not responsible for everything that happens Tai," Sora said sternly. "You're always doing this! Why do you take responsibility for everything bad that happens but never the good?"

Tai didn't answer her, his face neutral. Matt looked between the two in confusion. Apparently he had started an old argument between the two. He suggested that Tai grab some sticks and leaves for their fire, but kept Sora with him to finish the fire pit. They were camping on the mainland, and when they were ready to sleep they would walk across the bridge to the trolley car. Once Tai was gone to turned to Sora.

"What was that about?"

"Tai just infuriates me sometimes," Sora complained. "He's so stubborn. Everything bad that happens he usually finds some way to blame himself. I got hurt in soccer practice at school, and Tai blames himself for kicking the ball at me too hard. I was unable to play with my own team and we lost the grand finale. I never blamed Tai, but as soon as I saw him again he apologised to me. And then there was that time when his sister was being bullied a few years ago, he blamed himself for whatever reason."

"Tai has a sister?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, Kari was sick and couldn't make it to camp. Tai felt guilty for coming even though he was really looking forward to meeting Jade face to face."

"Sounds to me like Tai cares more about others than himself," Matt suggested, filing away the information that Tai had a younger sister. "He doesn't like other people feeling guilty, so he takes on that guilt as his own to spare them."

"It's so annoying!" Sora repeated. "How could this possibly be his fault?"

Matt shook his head. In some ways he blamed himself for TK ending up in the Digital World. He was supposed to protect his brother, so anything bad that happened to him was a sign that Matt wasn't doing his job. He wondered if that's how Tai felt, but with everyone instead of just his sister.

"Matt!"

Matt looked to the side and smiled when he saw Gabumon heading towards him, and did his best not to laugh when he saw something that looked like a banana on Gabumon's horn. He stood and pulled the banana off and asked the digimon what was wrong.

"Jade fell asleep guarding the fruit, and we didn't want to wake her up. I volunteered to get someone to carry her."

Matt nodded and jogged after Gabumon, leaving Sora to tend to the fire pit and help Tai when he returned. He continued jogging until he saw the digimon standing around a large looking tree with a heap of colourful fruit in front of it. He smile when he saw Jade curled up between the fruit and the tree, before the smile disappeared as he actually considered how she looked.

Tai said she was nine, and that for her birthday he would be showing her what a good birthday party was. He had even planned a small party with him, TK and Sora after dinner where they would tell stories and play a few small party games. But then it had snowed and all Tai's plans had been thrown out the window. But looking at Jade now, Matt had a hard time believing that she was nine years old. She looked younger than TK, and he was only in the second grade. There were dark circles under her eyes and her skin was paler than it had been when she had arrived. He hoped she wasn't getting sick, they didn't have the expertise or equipment to handle a sick person.

Very gently, Matt scooped Jade off the ground with one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. She stirred briefly, but didn't wake, so he carried her back to where they would be eating. As he walked he noticed one more thing, she was lighter than his brother.

"There you are Matt," Joe exclaimed once he came into view. "What happened to Jade?"

"She fell asleep," Matt explained. "She's exhausted."

"We all are," Joe stated with a nod. "Put her down over here. Once the fire's going she'll warm up, and then we can put some food in her."

Matt nodded and gently put Jade on the ground. Joe helped him take off her bag, and Matt remembered that she had a blanket in it. When Agumon returned and created a fire, Matt lay out the blanket so that it would dry and warm up. Izzy and TK brought over the fish they had caught, and Matt showed them how to cook the fish without burning off their fingers.

By the time the sun had set completely the fish were cooked and the fruit was cut. Tai woke Jade and handed her some food, which she nibbled on as she leant against him. The conversation was kept light, but after dinner the group separated a little. Joe wanted to study the now visible stars, looking for familiar constellations. They let him, but the digimon all started to drift off to sleep. Agumon took Tai's place beside Jade so that he could stand with Joe, and removed the half eaten fish from Jade's limp hands. The remains of their cooking were thrown onto the fire, and once they were turned to charcoal they put out the fire.

Izzy suggested that they keep watch throughout the night, and Matt forbid TK from standing guard on account of his age. TK disagreed with his brother, but Matt was firm so he trudged up to the trolley car with Patamon in his arms. Matt watched him go before grabbing Jade's now dry and warm blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. She blinked at him gratefully.

"Come on Jade," Tai said as he lifted her from the ground. "Let's get you somewhere comfortable to sleep. Close your eyes and don't look around."

Jade nodded and buried her head in Tai's neck. She knew that they would be walking across the stone bridge, but if she wasn't looking at it she could pretend that the bridge was wider than it actually was and they weren't going to be sleeping on an island. She was put down on one of the soft chairs and her blanket was readjusted so that it would cover most of her. Tai left the trolley car and quickly set up a small camp fire so that they would be able to keep warm as the night got colder.

* * *

"I can't sleep with all of you here," Mimi complained. Jade blinked and stared at the girl.

"Quit complaining," Sora ordered. "So it's not perfect. Just be glad we have a place to sleep."

"That's right Mimi!" Izzy told her sternly.

"Good night everyone!" Joe called.

"Don't let the Monochromon bite!" TK cheerfully called. Jade closed her eyes again, and snuggled deeper under her soft pink blanket. She knew that her parents had made it for her, as her name was engraved in gold along the edge. When she was lonely at night she would hold onto it, and now, years later, it was well used but still warm. Sometimes she would imagine she could still smell her mother's perfume, or hear her voice singing to her.

A while later music began to play, and Jade relaxed further into the cushions. She was almost completely asleep, and probably would have drifted off if the entire trolley car hadn't lurched and thrown her to the floor. She sat up and rubbed her head, feeling the bump where she had hit the floor. She hadn't been able to break her fall due to the fact that her arms had been cocooned inside her blanket.

"What's that horrible sound?" Sora asked. Jade looked around and saw that she hadn't been the only one thrown to the ground. Mimi was also on the floor, holding her hat close to her head as if it could protect her from whatever was screaming outside. TK was still on his seat, and Patamon was held tightly in his arms.

"It's an earthquake!" Mimi moaned.

"The trolley's starting to move!" Joe shouted. "And I don't think it's taking us home!"

"It's taking us towards that sea dragon!" Izzy told him. Jade looked out the window to look at what Izzy had seen, and her mouth dropped open in horror. A giant monster with a green body and white underbelly was looming high in the air above them, and its head was protected by a gold helmet of some description.

_MY TAIL!_

"Oh no, Seadramon!" Tentomon called, identifying the sea dragon.

"We're going to get eaten for sure!" Mimi cried. The children left the trolley car, but Jade curled up under her seat. Her blanket was pulled tighter around her, and she covered her ears with her hands. But still the sound of the fight outside could be heard. The island the trolley car was on was shaking as it was pulled through the water, and pain not her own invaded Jade's senses. She forced herself not to cry, and instead took deep breaths so that she wouldn't have a panic attack.

"Ah! That red thing was his tail!" Jade heard Tai scream.

_Intruders! How dare you disturb my rest!_

The island lurched again, and Jade clutched her ears tighter. She hadn't even wanted to go onto the island! When the island stopped moving, Jade cautiously opened her eyes, but makes no effort to leave her safety hole. Seadramon roared again, but this time she could hear the digimon attacking in reply. They didn't appear to have much luck as she could still hear Seadramon's roars.

And then she heard Matt screaming. Her hands left her ears and grabbed her chest, she wondered why it was hurting her so much. In her mind's eyes she could see Matt wrapped up by Seadramon's tail, like Tai had been earlier with Shellmon, and knew that the boy was in trouble. And then as the pain in her chest grew stronger, she heard Gabumon shouting.

"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"

The pain receded but the sound of fighting only grew more intense. Jade left her hidey hole and peeked out through the window. Garurumon was a giant wolf about the size of a car with white fur and blue stripes. His fur was identical to Gabumon's fur coat, but Garurumon's fur covered his whole body. He also appeared to be the stronger opponent in the fight with Seadramon. Matt was swimming to the island, that she could see, and she wondered how hurt he was. Slowly she crawled from the window to the door of the trolley car, and watched as Seadramon dropped back into the lake, unconscious.

_Stupid intruders…_

Garurumon glowed brightly before shrinking back into Gabumon, and Gabumon swam back to the island. As soon as he was out of the water TK collided with him, giving him the strongest hug he could manage. Tai looked over the group, his head bouncing a little as he counted everyone, before he spun around to look at the trolley car. He ran over quickly, and Jade looked up at him once he stopped in front of her. He held out his arms, and Jade allowed him to pick her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck.

"You're safe Jade," he whispered in her ear, and Jade knew that he could feel her shaking. The pain in her chest was gone now, but she still felt tired, scared, and uncertain. Tai walked back over to the group in time to hear Gomamon summoning his fish friends to push the island back to the mainland. Jade clutched at Tai tighter, and then felt him wince. She pulled back and looked at him in fear.

"I'm just a little sore," he told her. "Don't worry about it."

Jade bit her lip, wondering if she should walk on her own, but Tai just pulled her head back to his shoulder and made her that little bit more comfortable. As soon as the island was once again attached to the mainland the children and digimon crowded around the nearby trees. Tai found a large tree and sat down against it, rearranging Jade in his lap. She turned her head so that she could listen to his heartbeat and closed her eyes.

"Gabumon, may I use you for a pillow?" Mimi asked sweetly. "I promise, I won't take your fur!"

"Um…" Gabumon stated. "My fur's actually starting to stink a little, so it's best not."

"Oh," Mimi said sadly.

"Actually, there seems to be a pattern emerging," Izzy said, drawing attention to himself. "This time only Gabumon could digivolve."

"Yeah, Izzy's right," Sora stated. "Agumon was the only one who could do it before."

"You're right, it's all beginning to make sense," Tai stated, his eyes looking up as he remembered the fight on the beach. "Agumon digivolved when I was in danger."

"That has to be the answer," Izzy agreed. "Our digimon digivolves when we're in trouble."

"That must be it," Sora said with a nod. Her eyes looked over at the digimon and she smiled. Biyomon was sleeping up in a tree, while everyone else had formed a pile of bodies. Joe was on his front, with Gomamon leaning against his hip and Tentomon curled up near his head. Agumon was sitting next to Tentomon, his head on his chest, and Palmon was using Mimi's hip as a pillow. All of them were snoring softly. Sora looked around and saw that Matt and TK were by the water a little way from the main group, their digimon on either side of them. She was pretty tired herself and somehow ended back to back with Izzy, each using the other as a back rest.

"Are you feeling any better Jade?" Tai asked softly so as to not wake their companions. Jade shook her head. "I'm going to check on Matt, see if he's alright. And then I'm coming straight back, alright?"

Jade looked up at Tai before sliding off his lap. Tai walked over to where Matt was, and waited for the other boy to spot him. Matt gently separated himself from his digimon and brother, following Tai so that they were away from everyone.

"Hey," Tai started. "How are you feeling?"

"Me? Fine, I guess."

"How are your ribs?" Tai corrected. Matt grinned sheepishly, holding his hand to his chest.

"Sore, but Seadramon's tail had me from my shoulders to me knees. I'll probably be a walking bruise tomorrow. How about you? Shellmon wasn't exactly gentle with you."

"Nothing too serious," Tai told him with a grin. "Just a few bruises. You'll look just as pretty when you wake up."

Matt grinned at the thought, but then his grin faded. He remembered how Tai liked to take responsibility of problems not his own, and wondered what problems of his own he was hiding. He wondered if Tai ever complained about anything, including his own health.

"Everything's going to be alright," Tai said confidently. "Go back to your brother. We'll probably be doing a lot of walking tomorrow."

Matt nodded and walked back to TK, ordering Tai to follow his own advice over his shoulder. Tai waved and walked back to where Jade was still waiting for him. She looked very young with her blanket draped over her shoulders, and he sadly thought of the girl who had finally started to enjoy herself. He imagined that the day had been pretty crummy for her, especially seeing as it was her birthday. He leant back against the tree and pulled Jade to his side. Her head rested over his heart, and the two of them drifted off to sleep to wait for morning.

* * *

Jade was dreaming, of that she was certain. She back in her Dream World, where she felt safe, and she was staring up at a young man with brown hair and a white robe. He was grinning happily and Jade wondered why.

"_Welcome to the Digital World,_" he said. "_We were wondering if you would ever wake up._"

"Where am I?" Jade asked curiously. "What happened?"

"_You were very badly hurt when we brought you here,_" the man continued. "_You've been here for about two weeks. Did you fall down some stairs or something?_"

"Dudley pushed me…" Jade murmured. When she was six, she had been cleaning the top of stair rails when Dudley pushed her on his way to his room. She had fallen all the way to the ground, and collided with the corner of the door as her uncle had opened it at the exact moment she had reached the bottom. For her carelessness she had been locked in her cupboard for the weekend, and was let out for school the next week. She had been hurt, but when she came out of her cupboard she had felt better.

"_Your cry for help attracted the attention of one of our Guardians. He brought you to me so I've been working hard to heal you. Do you feel better?_"

"I…remember this," Jade continued to murmur. "You look after baby animals who can talk, and I got to play with them whilst you were checking up on them."

"_That's good. The digimon are curious about meeting you,_" the man went on as if Jade had said something different. "_Would you like to come and meet them?_"

Jade followed the man through numerous corridors and out into a courtyard. Small creatures Jade now recognised as digimon cheered when they appeared. Without thinking about it Jade went to pick up the nearest one, a cute kitten like digimon. It purred when she scratched its head, and a small giggle escaped her. She turned to the man who was watching her with a wide smile on his face.

"Who are you?"

"_I am Gennai._"

Jade woke up with a start, pulling away from Tai as she moved. He stirred briefly, but he was so tired that he didn't wake completely. She watched for a while until he stopped stirring before looking around at the others. Her Dream World really was the Digital World, but she had no idea why she felt so safe in her dreams, and so terrified in real life. What was it about her dreams that calmed her?

Shaking her head Jade looked up at the sky, noticing that it was lighter than before. The sun was preparing to rise which meant that the children would be waking soon so they could eat. While she waited she thought about her most recent dream. Why had the digimon been so eager to meet her? Where was Gennai now? If he was in the Digital World than that meant there were other humans here, but where were they?

"Urgh, what time is it?" Mimi asked as a ray of sunlight hit her in the face. Jade shrugged her shoulders as the girl looked at her, before poking Tai's shoulder so that he would wake up as well. Tai groaned as he was pulled from his sleep.

"Is it morning already? That's depressing."

"Hit the snooze button please?" Joe asked. "I hate mornings."

"I'm hungry," TK announced.

Everyone agreed with TK, and started to hand out some of the left over fruit from the night before. Jade was watching Tai, noticing that his movements were stiff. She remembered that he had some bruises from the battle with Shellmon, and wondered how serious the bruises were. The ones she got from Dudley didn't normally hurt the day after, they were just a weird greenish-yellow colour. She looked at his worriedly, but he just smiled and ruffled her hair. A piece of fruit was put into her hand, and she ate it without paying attention to what it was.

"Where do we go from here?" Sora asked as everyone was quietly eating.

"Towards that mountain," Tai stated, pointing his finger in the direction he thought the mountain was in. "It's where we started, and it's where we should go."

"Excellent," Joe stated. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get home!"

"Which way is the mountain Tentomon?" Izzy asked. Tentomon flew up into the air and upon his return he announced that the mountain was the opposite way to where Tai was pointing. There was a bit of laughter, and Tai shrugged. They packed the remaining fruit into Joe's bag, so they could save the food he had brought for as long as possible, and stood to leave. Jade quickly folded her blanket and put it into her bag, before standing to join the group. As the sun rose higher they began their trek onwards towards what they hoped was a way home.

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 4: Burning Rage and the Computer Program_**


	4. Burning Rage and the Computer Program

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 4: Burning Rage and the Computer Program

* * *

Jade walked quietly at the back of the group for most of the morning. Tai and Agumon led the group at an even pace, and behind them strolled Sora and Biyomon, and Matt and Gabumon. TK and Patamon walked side by side with Mimi and Palmon, and then Izzy and Tentomon, and just in front of Jade were Joe and Gomamon. They were all still pretty tired, so they didn't speak for a good portion of the day. As midday came closer Jade hoped that someone would call for a stop as her feet were getting sore.

Her mind drifted as she walked, and her hands linked behind her back. As focused as she was on her thoughts, she failed to realise that Joe had stopped and knelt in front of her. As a result she bounced backwards to the ground, and blinked in confusion. Joe was beside himself in apology as he helped her to stand. The commotion he was making drew the attention of everyone else, and Jade slid in behind Joe to escape their attention.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"I stopped walking because I have a rock in my shoe, but I didn't say anything and Jade crashed into me," Joe explained quickly. "It was an accident!"

"We know that," Tai said reassuringly. "Nobody was hurt were they?"

Jade peeked out from behind Joe and shook her head. Tai looked at her seriously, as if to figure out if she was telling the truth, before nodding and encouraging everyone else to walk. They did so, but Joe called out that he still had a rock in his shoe. Jade waited for him patiently, and whilst he quickly removed the rock in his shoe, Jade lifted Gomamon and dropped him on her head. His back feet rested on her bag, and his front paws rested on top of her head. His sigh of relief told Jade that he appreciated being off the ground.

Jade wondered about the characteristics of digimon. Gomamon was clearly water digimon, but did that mean that he was stronger in the water, or that to recover he needed water? He had been walking for a while, but he had spent the night on land. What would happen if they were forced into an environment without water nearby? What damage would Gomamon, and Palmon as a plant digimon, sustain without water and moist soil?

"Hey Jade?" Gomamon asked as Joe finished up with his shoe. "Why don't you talk as much as the others? I've heard you talk more in your sleep than you do when you're awake."

Jade looked up, even though she couldn't see the digimon. She wasn't aware that she spoke in her sleep. No one had pulled her up on that before. In response to Gomamon's question she shrugged her shoulders.

"Jade just doesn't like talking Gomamon," Joe explained, keeping pace with Jade. "She'll talk when she needs to."

Jade nodded to that and put a little bounce into her step. Gomamon laughed and readjusted his grip in her hair, and Joe smiled down at her. It seemed that their little break had reenergised the group as conversations had started near the front. TK and Patamon were laughing as they pretended to be explorers investigating the shrubbery alongside the path they were walking upon.

A little before they stopped for a lunch break, a whirring noise flew overhead, shocking them all. Jade gasped as a cold feeling wrapped around her heart and she staggered briefly. It was a different feeling compared to when they were in battle, this one felt dark and evil. Gomamon shouted in alarm as Jade sunk to her knees, her arms wrapping around herself protectively. Joe dropped to his knees beside her, and as she was close to the ground Gomamon leapt off her shoulders so that he could look at her face that had drained of all colour.

"Jade, what's wrong?" Joe asked. "Tai! We have to stop!"

Tai was instantly by Jade's side, and his arms wrapped around her comfortingly. Jade clung to his front, and now that the noise was fading so was the cold feeling. Eventually she pulled back and looked at Tai, and everyone else who had crowded around her in concern.

"Are you alright now?" Tai asked her. Jade nodded slowly, and hesitantly pressed her hands against her chest. It seemed that everything that was happening was affecting her heart. Joe put his hand on her shoulder.

"Jade, is there something wrong with your heart?"

Jade shrugged. Joe's hand moved to her forehead, and he pressed his lips together. Jade looked up at him in worry, and her lower lip between her teeth.

"What's wrong Joe?" Tai asked. "What's with the face?"

"Nothing, as such," Joe began. "But, the next time your chest hurts Jade, could you tell someone? It could be nothing, but it could also be something serious. I just want to be safe, alright?"

Jade nodded, and with that reassurance from her the conversation returned to the whirring noise.

"What was that earlier?" Tai asked.

"It seems to be some kind of aircraft," Matt suggested

"It looked like a big flying gear," Sora said.

"Admit it, my alien theory is becoming more plausible," Izzy stated.

"Yeah! They hit us with an antigravity ray to make us all crooked," Joe backed up Izzy. Jade blinked up at him in confusion. "Or maybe that sign's just crooked."

TK stepped to the side to get a look at the sign Joe was pointing to. As he moved he stepped on a loose but of soil and fell down into the embankment. Sora called out his name in concern even as Tai lifted him into the air safely.

"That was scary," TK informed them.

"Watch it!" Matt ordered worriedly.

"That could have been a snake, or worse," Tai told the little boy.

TK apologised before turning to Biyomon to ask if there were snakes in the Digital World. Patamon promised to protect him from the unpleasant digimon, and Jade stood up from where she was still sitting on the ground. She didn't want her muscles to freeze up on top of everything else that was happening to her.

"Ok, so now that that's settled let's get going," Sora said.

"Nothing's settled and where would we go?" Matt asked her in reply. "We don't even know where we are!"

"This is silly," Tai added. "I say we keep moving and see if we can find signs of intelligent life here."

Jade forcefully restrained herself from smacking her forehead with her hand. They had just spent a full day walking around with creatures that could walk, talk and think all at the same time. That was more than what Dudley could do. If that wasn't a sign of intelligent life, Jade didn't know what was. Tai should have said that they needed to find other humans, and Biyomon seemed to think so as well.

"Hey, wait a minute," the little pink bird began, running her head against Sora's leg. "Is he saying that digimon aren't intelligent? Is that what he's saying?"

"Not at all," Sora replied, looking uncertain as to how to answer the question. "But I think Tai is right, we need to keep moving in hopes of finding out where we are. We need to stay calm and stick together."

Jade started to move with the others, even as Sora continued to talk. This time, instead of walking at the back of the group, she walked near the front with Tai

"Well thanks a lot for waiting!" Sora called as she noticed that everyone had left her.

"Moving right along folks, keep it moving. Our next stop on our tour will be the Forest of Irrelevant Road Signs," Matt explained, imitating a tour guide. "No pictures please."

Jade giggled silently at the accurate name Matt had come up with. Everywhere around them, attached to trees or just on their own were road signs of every description. There were arrows, construction signs, warning signs, and stops signs no matter where everyone looked. Tai looked down at her with amusement, and his stomach chose that moment to growl with hunger. He blushed even as Jade covered her mouth to hide her smile.

"I think we should stop for lunch," he said to the others. "We'll eat some of the food that Joe has and then we'll continue. I doubt that I'm the only person who's hungry."

A cheer went up, particularly from TK, so the group just sat down in the middle of the path and divided up some more food to eat. Jade savoured the feeling of sitting down, for she knew that unless something happened they would be spending the rest of the day walking. It was best that she rested as much as she could.

* * *

"Wait! My shoelace is broken!" Joe called after about half an hour of walking. He was once again at the back of the group to make sure no one fell behind.

"You need new shoes," Mimi told the older boy, before pausing in excitement. "Ooh, new shoes…"

"Look, telephone poles!" Matt said, drawing everyone's attention. "I say we follow them and see where they lead."

"They'll just lead to trouble," Joe said pessimistically. Jade looked in the direction of the telephone poles and sighed. The telephone poles were in the middle of what appeared to be a desert, complete with hot sand and burning sun. She doubted that her feet would be able to withstand the heat for long, but she didn't want to burden the others by forcing them to carry her. Already Mimi had asked Joe several times to carry her, and every time Joe had told her no.

"Look, it's that alien saucer again!" Izzy cried. Everyone followed his line of sight, but Jade didn't need his warning for as soon as the gear was nearby the cold feeling in her heart returned. It wasn't as strong as before, so she didn't tell anyone, but she did hold her chest lightly and grip Tai's hand in hers fearfully.

"And it's headed for a close encounter," Matt added. The black gear collided with a small mountain and a tiny cloud of dust rose into the air. As it crashed, the children's interest in it disappeared and they decided to cross the desert, following the telephone poles. Tai led the way with Agumon, and Izzy brought up the rear with Tentomon. Jade walked just behind Tai, and did her absolute best not to show how much the ground burned her feet.

"It's so hot!" TK complained a few minutes later. "I can feel the heat coming up through my socks!"

"Well TK," Matt began. "Maybe you should put your shoes back on."

TK made a sound of realisation and hopped around a bit as he put his shoes back on his feet. Jade looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. Further behind the group, just in front of Izzy, was Mimi and she was rubbing the skin on her arms.

"This hot desert air is destroying my complexion. How much further is it?"

"Is that all you're worried about Mimi?" Joe asked from just ahead of her. "We'll be lucky if we even survive this hike."

"Hey, does anyone else see that these telephone poles have no connecting wires?" Sora asked. Everyone's eyes scanned the telephone poles near them, and Jade thought back to similar poles by the lake. Their wires have fallen into the water, and these wires were just hanging loosely, not connected to anything.

"She's right," Izzy observed. "I wonder if these actually are telephone poles. Maybe they're some kind of odd alien equivalent."

Jade sighed and returned her attention to the front. She would listen to the conversation but she saw no reason to include herself in it. They were just trying to pass the time so that they didn't have to think about how empty the desert was…and how hot the ground was. Jade's brow furrowed as her mind focused on her burning feet. She shouldn't have thought about it, but now that she had she observed that her feet were burning.

"Hey, does anyone remember those phone booths, and that trolley car?" Mimi asked curiously.

"Yeah," Izzy said slowly. "What about them?"

"Oh nothing," Mimi said cheerfully. "I was just wondering if anyone else remembered!"

"That's it, doomed!" Joe cried suddenly, stopping in where he was. "The heat has baked our brains and we're all going to end up as roasted piglet!"

"Just remain calm Joe," Izzy ordered. "We've only been walking for two minutes."

Jade and Tai turned to look at Joe, as did everyone else in the group. Mimi casually strolled over to the boy and proudly displayed how her watch had broken. The heat from the sun had melted the numbers, and how the small traces of metal in the dirt disrupted the compass needle. Everyone crowded around to watch, though Jade wished they wouldn't stop because that just meant they'd be walking for longer in the desert.

Once everyone's curiosity had been sated the group continued walking. Mimi gave Palmon her hat to prevent more damage from the sun, and Izzy said something scientific about how hot it was. But, about an hour into the walk Jade decided that the heat was too much for her feet and stopped Tai by grabbing his shirt. When he looked down at her in curiosity his eyes widened as he noticed her feet. Blisters and burns covered the sole of her foot, and where her feet had sunk into the sand were red marks.

"Jade," Tai breathed. "Your feet! Why didn't you stop us before?"

Jade shrugged her shoulders and rocked back and forth so that her feet were alternating off and on the ground. Seeing that Tai lifted her onto his back so that her feet were in front of him, and while she sighed now that her feet were off the ground, Tai frowned. Her feet were badly burned, and she hadn't made a sound of displeasure the entire time they had been walking.

"Are you right to carry her Tai?" Sora asked, referring to his ribs. "I could do it for a while if you need me to."

"I'm good," Tai told her. "She doesn't weigh much."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

"I think we should find some shade and water," Joe stated, curious about the byplay but willing to leave it alone. "Jade's feet will need to be soaked in something cold."

"It might be a good idea to turn around and get out of this desert," Matt suggested. "At least back the way we came we know where there is a water supply, and there's shade for us."

"Wait, just a minute," Tai ordered. He was still facing the way that they were going, and with a little juggling was able to pull out his mini telescope. He focused it on a spot in the distance, making affirmative noises the whole while.

"If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing…it's not a mirage. It's real water."

The thought of water was enough to spur them on that little bit longer. Jade remained as still as possible on Tai's back, conscious of his bruises. She wondered how Matt was feeling after his tangle with Seadramon, and looked back briefly. He appeared no worse for wear, but he could have been pretending for TK's sake.

Her eyes returned to the path ahead, and she blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing everything correctly. The village that Tai had spotted was certainly getting closer, but it was also getting smaller. By the time they arrived in the village it was to discover the houses were only slightly smaller than TK, and the inhabitants were a few hundred Yokomon, the pre-digivolved form of Biyomon.

"Welcome!" the Yokomon chanted when the children arrived. Jade gave a little wave but otherwise made no other movement.

"From so far away, everything looks so big," Tai stated.

"But they're so cute and tiny!" Mimi cried.

"Okay, question," Biyomon stated. "Who knows where we can get a drink?"

"And just what do giant digimon drink?" asked one of the Yokomon. Sora blinked in confusion as the little Yokomon had been looking at her.

"Me?" she asked. "I'm no digimon."

"My friend Sora is what's called a human being," Biyomon explained. "Yes, we know they look funny. In spite of this they are all actually very nice."

"What's a human being?" the Yokomon asked. "If you're not digimon, what are you doing in Digiworld?"

"This is just great!" Joe cried in a panic. "There's no way we are all going to fit into this place!"

"Relax Joe," Tai ordered. "At least the natives are friendly."

"Oh my!" Mimi exclaimed. "I would love to take one home and put it on my bed with all my other stuffed animals!"

"There she goes again," Matt sighed. "Do you think Mimi hears the same things we hear? I'm not sure anymore."

"Maybe she's an alien spy," Izzy suggested.

"TK is tired and hungry!" Patamon said.

"He's not the only one," Joe added. "And we need to soak Jade's feet in some water. I want to see the damage without the sand and dirt in the way."

Tai nodded and walked over to where there was a water fountain nearby. He put Jade down on the edge and she dipped her feet into the water at his urging. The cool water felt amazing on her burning feet, and she closed her eyes in bliss.

"All the water here is piped in from a spring at Miharashi Mountain," one of the Yokomon explained cheerfully. "It's the best water in the world!"

"Forget the world!" Tentomon added. "Mt. Miharashi water is the best in the galaxy!"

"Where's Mt. Miharashi?" TK asked, having followed Tai to the spring. All the Yokomon nearby turned to face the mountain the black gear had ploughed into earlier. TK correctly identified the mountain as a live volcano.

"Yes," the Yokomon said. "But the heat boils away all the germs."

Jade turned from looking at the mountain to looking at her feet. The water around her was getting hotter, and from the mountain was a loud growl. Izzy pointed out that the mountain was about to erupt, and Jade threw herself backwards and out of the water…moments before the water disappeared and was replaced by a column of fire. She whimpered at the heat but nonetheless crawled to her knees to watch like the others were. Tai held onto her shoulders in worry.

"What happened?" Tai asked.

"The water evaporated," said one Yokomon.

"But don't worry," said another. "The lake is always full of water."

"I'm going to check it out," Tai stated. "Stay here Jade."

Jade nodded as he ran off, and then watched as everyone else followed him. She figured it was empty as the children then headed over to what Jade assumed was a well. It soon sprouted flames like the fountain, and Jade knew that it was time to make a move to evacuate. She stood shakily, wincing as she put weight on her injured feet. The other children were staring at the mountain, and when Jade swivelled to look as well she saw that a fiery digimon of some description was running down the mountain.

"Everybody freeze! Stay very still," Sora ordered. Jade turned and looked at her incredulously. Why would she want them to remain still when there was a monster bearing down on them? She darted to the side and hid between the little huts.

"Don't move a muscle," Sora reiterated. Jade ignored her, there was no way she'd be staying still as danger came closer. It would be like standing still as Dudley came barrelling towards her. It would be silly to do that, asking to get beaten up.

_BURNING!_

"Unfreeze!" Tai ordered. "And run!"

Jade peeked out from behind the huts. Everyone was running in the opposite direction, back towards the lake. Jade sighed, she had been forgotten about again. She glanced down at her feet sadly, before straightening her back and walking after the stampede of children and Yokomon. Behind she could hear the screams from the fiery digimon, and she thought back to what the Yokomon had said earlier.

On top of Mt Miharashi was Meramon, a fiery digimon who protected it and drew strength from the fires below it. He never came down from the mountain usually, and Jade wondered if the flying gear had caused the upset. Looking back over her shoulder she gasped as she noticed just how close Meramon had gotten to her. She could now see him in great detail. He was taller than any person she had ever seen, and his entire body was one giant flame. His eyes glared blue from his fiery face, and his mouth appeared to have been sewn together. Whenever he opened his mouth he looked like he was stretching the stiches.

As Meramon came closer, Jade felt the cold return and steadily become stronger. She sunk to the ground holding her chest, and only just managed to look up when two burning feet stood before her. Cold eyes stared into her, and she stared right back. For what felt like an eternity their eyes remained locked, before a pulse of darkness ripped all strength from Jade and increased the flames on Meramon.

_BURNING!_

Meramon ran off towards where the children had gone, and the further away he went the better Jade felt. She wondered if the flying gear was inside the digimon, as that would explain the coldness, and staggered to her feet to follow. Meramon was standing at the edge of what used to be the lake, and standing in front of him was Biyomon, who had remained behind to ensure all the Yokomon got away safely.

"Go away Meramon!" Biyomon ordered. "Leave us alone! We're not bothering you!"

Jade gasped as Meramon violently struck the pink bird. She could faintly hear Sora down in the lake calling for her digimon, and wondered if the others were also down in the lake and would be appearing to help. She crept closer, and did her best to push the feeling of darkness away. Her eyes glowed faintly, appearing to twinkle like stars in the night sky, and the coldness retreated. The pain in her feet faded until it didn't bother her anymore, and she felt more confident than she could remember feeling.

Attacks from the other digimon came up from the empty lake, but all that did was cause Meramon to grow larger as he absorbed the power they were sending to him. Meramon screamed out, even as he grew, and Jade focused her energy on his heart.

"Why do I suffer so?!" Meramon screamed. He leapt into the empty lake to get closer to the digimon inside it, and Jade sent her energy down as well. Her heart began to burn, but it was different to how the gear made her feel. This was a kind of warmth that she had felt before when both Agumon and Gabumon had digivolved, and it wasn't the pain that hurt her, it was the emotion. From the bottom of the lake the energy pooled, and Jade knew instantly that there was a digimon there about to digivolve.

"Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"

Jade watched from the sidelines as a giant red bird emerged, pushing Meramon back up the slopes and away from the children and digimon below. Jade finally figured it out, the strength of the emotion in each digimon as they digivolved was what affected her. She was feeling what the digimon were feeling and it was unfamiliar to her, that's why it caused her pain. Protectiveness, worry, affection, fear, and another emotion that Jade couldn't name, were what the digimon experienced before digivolving into a stronger form to protect their partners.

Birdramon fought fire with fire, and Meramon replied by bombarding her with fire balls. A massive fireball attack from Birdramon caused Meramon to shrink in on himself, shrinking in size. It was at this moment that Jade struck. Her energy, which was still focused on his heart, ripped the black gear from his body and forced it to shatter in mid-air. The glow in her eyes faded and Jade felt exceptionally weak all of a sudden. She collapsed on the ground, her arms slightly outstretched from where she tried to catch herself, and waited.

Birdramon de-digivolved into Biyomon, but when she went back into the lake to check on Sora, Meramon stood and walked to Jade. He rolled her onto her back, and while his hands were warm, they didn't burn her as she expected them to. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

"Do you feel better?" she asked softly.

"Thank-you," Meramon replied. "That's twice you've saved me now. Of course, I was still DemiMeramon when you saved me last time. But I promise, I will repay this growing debt to you one day."

Jade blinked curiously, not aware of a previous time she had saved Meramon. She assumed that it had been during her last visit to the Digital World that she couldn't remember clearly. If she was meant to remember, she would, but for now she just nodded and smiled. Meramon helped her to sit up, and then lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the lake. The children below spotted her in Meramon's arms and ran towards them.

"Do they know about you?" Meramon asked as they came closer. He put Jade on the ground and sat down beside her. Jade shook her head. Not even she knew about herself, and it irritated her slightly that digimon knew more about her than she did. Meramon h'mmed in understanding, but said nothing else as the other children arrived.

"Jade! Are you alright?" Tai asked as soon as he was near. It didn't really surprise Jade that he was first out of the lake, as he was a very athletic person, but she was surprised at how worried he appeared to be. His eyes were wide, and his face was very pale despite the run. He pulled her into a hug and Jade felt more than heard him sigh in relief.

"I knocked her aside when I was under the control of the Black Gear," Meramon explained. "I couldn't stop myself. The last thing I remember clearly was being hit by that Black Gear, and then I was following this beacon of light. It was incredibly painful, but I knew this beacon could free me."

The Yokomon, children and other digimon crowded around the much calmer digimon, listening as he explained his experience, and the lake refilled with water now that the burning flames from Mt Miharashi were finally calm again. Water began to flow into the water fountain again, and TK gave a cry of delight as he threw off his shoes and socks and started to soak his feet in water.

Jade closed her eyes, leaning that little bit heavier on Tai, and listened intently. She imagined that the beacon would have been the children and their digimon, for they were the ones who got rid of the Black Gear. But then she thought about the feeling she got when the Black Gear was near, it was cold to her. Could she have been what Meramon was running towards? Was she the beacon that would get rid of the Gear? She snorted silently, yeah right.

Tai looked down at Jade in concern. Once again he and the others had run off without her, not even stopping to think about how she was going to run when she couldn't even walk. It wasn't until he and Sora were herding the Yokomon onto the half buried ship in the middle of the then empty lake that he had thought about who was missing. Sora ran off after Biyomon, and Tai had been torn in following her to get up to the mainland, or staying and making sure the Yokomon were safe. In the end he had stayed as he had spotted Meramon looming above them, but as soon as Birdramon won, he was running. Seeing Jade in Meramon's hold had stopped his heart, but seeing that she was well had calmed him down considerably.

Meramon returned to his mountain a short while later, thanking the children for freeing him from the Black Gear's control, and the Yokomon arranged for dinner to be served. Tai encouraged Jade to open her eyes for a little while longer, but after seeing the bowl of seeds that the Yokomon called food, he reconsidered.

"What is this stuff?" he asked.

"Be polite and just eat it," Mimi ordered him, already delicately eating from her own bowl of seeds. "A gracious guest never insults his hosts' cooking."

"I can't tell if it's even been cooked," Tai told her. Jade looked up from his side, her mouth already full of seeds. It tasted better than what she ate usually, and it was filling her up more than the fruit from earlier had. She wondered if the seeds expanded in the stomach, creating the illusion that you were full. Either way, it felt great after not eating for a while.

"Eat as much as you want," Biyomon told Sora. "There's more than enough for seconds."

"Yeah, well, there's probably a good reason for that," Joe determined.

"You know," Sora began. "That's exactly what I was afraid you were going to say."

"It smells better than broccoli," TK told everyone. "Who knows? It might taste better!"

"Has anyone noticed?" Matt asked. "We talk a lot about food."

Both he and TK started to eat the seeds without complaint, until it was only Joe and Sora who hadn't started.

"Nah, I'm not hungry," Sora decided.

"I'm skipping this one too," Joe agreed. "I just don't like to eat on an empty stomach. Besides, I'm not even sure what that stuff is, but I'm sure I'm allergic to it."

Jade frowned at the two, her own food almost forgotten on her lap. When food was offered it was best to eat it, because you never knew when you would eat next, especially in the Digital World. Tai nudged her shoulder gently, and she continued to eat. As soon as she was done however, she pulled her blanket out of her bag and curled up happily.

"Wait, Jade," Joe said, spotting her making herself comfortable. "Let's look at your feet before you go to sleep."

Jade nodded, sitting up and stretching her feet out in front of her. Joe sat in front of her and lifted one of her feet to take a closer look at it. His lower lip was between his teeth, and he carefully swapped what foot he was holding onto, before staring at Jade seriously. She blinked at him and pulled her blanket tighter around her.

"Your feet are burnt, so I don't want you walking on them for a few days so that they can heal," Joe explained. "We don't have any bandages, but I think you'll be better off if the fresh air can get at the burns. Will you agree to let someone carry you tomorrow?"

Jade frowned. She didn't want anyone to carry her, she wanted to walk on her own. The only person she felt comfortable with was Tai, and he was still bruised from his fight with Shellmon, and Matt was bruised from his tangle with Seadramon. Joe seemed nice enough, but he was already carrying their food, and Mimi was always asking for someone to carry her, she wouldn't want to carry anyone. TK was too small, even though he was almost taller than Jade, and Izzy protectively carried his computer. Sora was an option, but while Jade had been writing to her she just didn't want Sora to carry her.

"I'll carry you Jade," Agumon said, appearing at her side. "You can sit on my shoulders, and we can run ahead of everyone. It'll be fun. Please?"

Jade smiled at the dinosaur before nodding. The digimon had already proved to be strong, and Agumon was a natural leader amongst the digimon. She wondered if she could get Agumon to tell her more about the Digital World, particularly its history. Where did she fit into it?

"Perfect," Joe stated. "Now, get some sleep and we'll head out in the morning. That mountain's not going to get any closer if we just stand around not moving."

Jade nodded before curling up once more under her blanket. She smiled happily when she felt Agumon curl up against her back, and as she fell asleep she was swept away by pleasant dreams of Gennai, baby digimon, and an angel who promised to save her.

* * *

The following morning saw another round of seeds from the night before, a quick pack-up job and a happy farewell. Jade was sitting on Agumon's shoulders, her hands resting on his head for balance, and they were leading the group. The weather was hot, and while they had left the telephone poles behind, the ground was still barren and trees were few and far between. Out of all of them, Jade was the only one who had a water bottle, so the water needed to be used sparingly.

"Agumon, what do you know about the Digital World?" Jade asked quietly. They were far enough ahead that the other children couldn't hear them.

"Well, not much," Agumon admitted. "I've spent my whole life with the others on top of Infinity Mountain. I spent all my time waiting for Tai, but I do know a little. The other older and wiser digimon used to speak of an angel who was a physical representation of truth. I don't know what they meant by that though. This angel was loved by all, but then one day an evil digimon attacked the angel and our world was thrown into confusion. The angel was never seen again, though the digimon are waiting for the angel to return to them. They believe that the return of the angel will restabilise the Digital World and create peace between us all."

"Do you believe that?"

"Sometimes," Agumon stated. "But it's been many years since the angel was last seen here. Longer than I've been waiting for Tai, but I know there is a temple on File Island somewhere dedicated to her. The flying digimon visit all the time."

Jade thought about that. An angel? That couldn't have been her. Maybe there were other humans who had been in the Digital World, and that was who Agumon was talking about. She only remembered a room of machines, a glass box of eggs and the garden of Gennai's with the baby digimon. There was also that dream of an angel promising to save her…But then Meramon had known her…it was all so confusing.

"Did the angel have a name?"

"I suppose, but I've only ever heard the angel referred to as the Guardian of Truth, Sovereign, and Protector. If the angel has a name, it has been forgotten."

Jade nodded and turned slightly so she could look at where the others had gotten to. They were further back than before, so Jade suggested that Agumon walk back to them to see what was holding them up. Mimi, TK, Palmon and Gomamon had all collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, and Jade and Agumon returned in time to hear Matt declare that it was break time. Once they were all under a nearby tree, resting in the shade, Izzy pulled out his computer. Jade let him, not knowing much about technology, and sat cross-legged next to Gomamon. She tipped a little of her water onto his head, and giggled when he sighed in relief.

"My skin's so dry," Gomamon moaned. "Is there water nearby? I'm drying up over here."

Jade gently rubbed some of her water into his skin, frowning when she felt how dry the little digimon actually felt. They would need to find a water supply fairly soon. She turned a little to look at Palmon, and the plant digimon appeared to be only just slightly better off than Gomamon. The shade appeared to be helping her recover.

"Still crashed, and the warranty's expired," Izzy sighed sadly. Jade sat on her knees and looked over Izzy's shoulder briefly. His screen was blank, and she supposed that that was what was getting him down. She momentarily wondered why the computer wouldn't work, as they were in the Digital World, but maybe he just needed to find the right compatibility. She vaguely remembered Dudley complaining about how one of his favourite video games wasn't compatible with his computer.

"Hey Izzy!" Tai stated, darting forward and grabbing the computer. "I know how to get it to boot up. You just gotta give it a couple of subtle adjustments!"

"Hey quit it!" Izzy cried in horror. Tai was whacking the computer fairly hard, but Jade figured that he had the right idea. Dudley always hit his computer and it worked fine afterwards. Although, that could have been because Uncle Vernon had bought Dudley a new computer while he was at school. "Are your brain cells malfunctioning?"

"Gosh, you're acting like I'm hurting the dumb thing!" Tai cried as Izzy ripped the computer from him. Jade watched from her comfortable spot on the ground, her head bouncing between the two as if watching a tennis match.

"Too bad your brain isn't as big as your hair," Sora stated, standing behind Izzy and looking at Tai. "Maybe Izzy doesn't want grimy fingerprints and dents all over his computer."

Tai crossed his arms and sighed, his eyes scanning the horizon. Jade waited to see what kind of response Tai would come back with, but was disappointed as Tai had spotted something far more interesting and was running off towards it. Agumon went with him to make sure that he didn't get into any more trouble, and Jade laughed as she heard simultaneous sighs of exasperation from everyone.

"The attention span of a gnat," Joe stated.

"Ah, whatever," Matt told him. Izzy started to work on his computer again, and Jade returned to wetting Gomamon's skin. She wondered what it was Tai had seen, but figured that if it was important he would return for them. They wouldn't leave without him, at least, Jade didn't think they'd leave without him.

"Hey everybody! Get over here quick!" Tai called. Jade looked up from Gomamon curiously. The older children started to run, except for Joe who made sure that the younger children and digimon wouldn't get left behind. He lifted Jade onto his back and followed the cloud of dust made by the others.

"We're coming Tai!" Sora called.

Tai was standing on the edge of a basin, but in the centre of the basin was a giant factory, complete with black smoke, whirring machines, and dull grey. Jade's eyes widened at the sight. Aside from the fights they'd been in, everything in the Digital World had been really pretty and natural. But this was like a blight on the Digital World, something that shouldn't be there, shouldn't belong.

"Looks like some kind of factory," Joe stated.

"Let's hope they can manufacture a way for us to get home," Matt added.

"I wonder what they make in there," Joe continued as the group started to walk down into the basin.

"I don't know," Mimi replied. "But wouldn't it be great if there's a manufacturer's outlet store? They always have killer deals!"

At the bottom of the basin Jade dropped off Joe's back and was immediately seized by Agumon. They walked around the outside of the factory, looking for an entrance. Once they found one they all entered and simply stood still staring around.

"Don't ask me how but there doesn't seem to be anyone here," Matt observed.

"There's got to be someone running the equipment," Sora told him. Matt just shrugged at her.

"I don't know," Izzy stated. "They seem to be doing quite well all by themselves."

"Matt, what are the machines making?" TK asked, standing next to a conveyor belt of some kind.

"You got me," Matt replied. "Maybe parts for robots, or space ships."

"Somebody's got to be moving those belts!" Joe cried. "And people gotta eat! So is there a cafeteria in this place? I could really use a good meal!"

They split into two groups after that, not that Jade could see the reasoning behind it. Tai, Sora, Joe and Jade went off in one direction, while Izzy, Matt, TK and Mimi went the other way. The group Jade was with were looking for the cafeteria, so they went up a few flights of stairs. The other group followed the conveyor belt, curious about what was being made, so they remained on the ground floor. Jade assumed that eventually they'd find their way up, as the factory was too large for everything to be on ground floor.

"Hello!" Tai called out, his voice echoing. "Is anybody here?"

They were walking along a walkway about two floors up from ground level, and looking up Jade knew that there were at least another five floors before the roof. They had just turned down a separate path when Biyomon stopped.

"Wait a minute," she stated. "Don't go any further in this direction."

"What's the matter with this direction?" Joe asked. "It's just as good as any other direction. Isn't it?"

"No, wait," Biyomon continued.

"What is it Biyomon?" Sora asked curiously. Jade tilted her head slightly as she stared at pink digimon.

"I'm not sure, I heard…something."

Jade listened intently, and slowly the sound of machines grinding together reached her ears. A few moments later the others heard it as well.

"Doesn't sound good," Tai agreed. They turned around and walked down another path, though Jade looked back over her shoulder curiously. They weren't alone in the factory, of that she was certain. She and Agumon ended up at the back of the group, but that didn't bother Jade as she was too busy trying to look at everything at the same time. It was as they were passing a side corridor that she tapped Agumon's head to get his attention and pointed into the room everyone else had just passed.

"Hey!" Agumon called, grabbing the others' attention. He pointed into the room and they all doubled back so that they could look. Tai was the first one to comment on what they were looking at.

"What do you suppose happened to him?"

Half inside a machine was an android, but he wasn't moving and Jade wondered if he was still functional after being encased in gears.

"Who knows?" Sora stated. "But let's see if we can help."

"It's just a busted robot," Tai observed as they walked into the room. Jade looked down at the android-robot and frowned in confusion. There was something about him that seemed incredibly familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"It's not a robot," Gomamon told Tai with a strange tone in his voice. "It's Andromon."

"What? This big lug is a digimon?"

"Yes," Agumon explained. "And very much advanced."

"Poor thing," Biyomon added. "I guess he got caught in the gears, and that's how he got mangled."

"Maybe if we work together we could pull him out of there," Sora suggested. Jade slid off Agumon's back so that he could help, and walked to the side.

"My mom doesn't want me moving any heavy objects," Joe explained, backing away slightly from Andromon. "I have bad knees."

"Relax," Sora told him. "We'll do it."

She and Tai reached down to grab Andromon's arms, and the digimon pitched in too. It wasn't going too well so Joe eventually reached down to help. Jade looked towards where Andromon was stuck, there was something other than his feet in there. Tai fell back onto a lever when his hands slipped on Andromon's arm, and suddenly the gears started to move. Jade gasped as the cold she associated with Black Gears rushed over her, but her gasp went unnoticed because at that moment the others had pulled Andromon free. Jade stared wide-eyed at the digimon, wondering what effect the Black Gear would have on him.

She ran quickly to Tai's side, clinging to his arm as she stared down at Andromon. He looked like he was waking up, and the strength of the Black Gear was steadily increasing.

"I think he's coming to," Agumon observed.

"He needs a couple of whacks for a jump start!" Tai decided. He raised his fist to knock Andromon on the head, something that Sora and Joe immediately worked to prevent, but they hadn't factored into account that Agumon was almost exactly like Tai. He hit Andromon in Tai's place.

"I am Andromon," Andromon slowly stated.

"There's this movie," Joe began nervously. "Where a robot came to life and ate everyone."

"He looks friendly enough," Sora observed, bending in close to look at the digimon. "And I'm sure if we're nice to him he'll be nice to us." Jade didn't like how close she was getting so she leapt away from Tai's side and pushed her out of the way moments before Andromon's hand fastened around the nearest foot, which ended up being Jade's. She screamed as she was wrenched upside-down.

"Forget what I said about him being friendly!" Sora ordered from where she had landed on the ground. Andromon stood up and lifted Jade higher. Jade was glad that under her skirt she had short shorts on, otherwise the position she was in could have been extremely embarrassing.

"I shall punish alien intruders," Andromon said in a monotone. Jade struggled in his grasp and used her free foot to kick at Andromon's hand. The digimon attacked Andromon with little effect, except for the fact that Andromon decided holding onto Jade was pointless. He threw her sideways and she landed in Tai's arms.

"Too bad we didn't catch him on a good day!" Joe cried on the other side of the room. He and Gomamon were separated from the others by Andromon's intimidating figure. "Watch out!"

"Maybe this is a good day," Gomamon quipped.

"This is not good!" Joe said, pointing to Andromon.

"Well Tai," Agumon began. "What do we do now?"

Jade pointed to the roof from where she still rested in Tai's arms. Tai agreed with her and Agumon sent out a fireball to sever the cables holding metal rods in place. They fell and covered Andromon, allowing the children to escape. They ran away as fast as they could, and the further they ran the better Jade felt. She did, however, know exactly when Andromon freed himself because the darkness of the Black Gear became stronger the closer he came to them.

As they ran, the lights shut off, sending them all into darkness. Jade shuddered lightly, she hated the dark. Tai stopped running and looked around wildly.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights?"

"I break out in hives in the dark," Joe added. A growl came from behind them, and as they turned Jade saw two blue lights shining at them. She knew she was looking into Andromon's eyes and clung even tighter to Tai.

"What was that?" Joe asked.

"I hope it isn't Andromon," Sora replied.

"It might be a good plan to keep moving so we don't have to find out," Tai suggested.

"Well, I'm for that," Joe agreed. They turned to continue on, but they weren't running like Jade expected them to. They were creeping away quietly, which was silly if you asked Jade because if she could see Andromon, chances were that he could see them.

"Can anyone explain why we're tiptoeing instead of running for our lives?" Joe asked softly.

"Intruders sighted," came a rumble from down the corridor. "And Andromon doesn't like intruders. _Lightning Blade!_"

Jade looked back as she recognised an attack call, and screamed again at the sight of a blue blade of lightning barrelling towards them at high speed. The children darted to the side, once again running instead of walking. Jade fought to run on her own, and Tai allowed her to but kept a firm grip on her hand so that she wouldn't get left behind. Their path led them to another walkway out in the open, but one with nowhere to hide when Andromon appeared behind them with another attack ready to fire at them.

"This-is-not-good-I-don't-like-this-at-all," Joe panted, each breath another word.

"_Lightning Blade!_"

The children and digimon leapt off the side of the walkway, hanging onto the railing as the attack passed them. Andromon came closer, and Jade fought against the cold feeling, glaring at Andromon. He paused in his walk, focusing on her. She stared right back without flinching.

"Hear me intruders," Andromon continued, eyes not leaving Jade's. "Andromon will exact his vengeance."

Tai leapt from the railing, having seen two different things. The first had been a crane just below him, and the second had been the way Andromon looked at Jade. He didn't like the second thing at all, and if he used the first thing correctly he wouldn't need to think about the second too much. While he worked, Jade focused on pushing more of the darkness back. There was something in Andromon's eyes that flickered for a minute, and a pulse of electricity blossomed from his right leg, the only leg that wasn't completely covered in metal.

"Andromon…Sovereign…must exact…vengeance," Andromon stuttered.

"Oh yeah!" Tai cried. "Just try it you tin can! Well come on!"

"Could you please stop taunting the deranged android?" Joe begged. Tai swung the crane around and the hook dangling from the end caught the back of Andromon's metal body. Andromon was lifted high into the air, and while he hung their the children and digimon got back onto the walkway and continued to run.

"Did you hear what he said?" Agumon asked as they ran.

"I wasn't exactly listening Agumon," Sora replied panting. "I was a bit too busy running for my life."

"I heard!" Biyomon stated. "He was talking about the Sovereign!"

"Sovereign?" Tai and Joe asked simultaneously.

"That's right," Gomamon realised. "But why?"

Jade wondered that too. She was also worried as when Andromon had spoken, it had been to her he was speaking, and it had sounded like he was asking for help. The Black Gear was messing with his ability to function, but when Jade had pushed away the darkness his true mind had fought to the surface to speak. Was she the Sovereign Agumon had spoken about earlier, the angel that had existed before he hatched from his digi-egg? That was almost impossible!

"You can wonder about it later," Sora ordered. "Just keep running. We have to find the others and warn them."

"Yeah, but where are they?" Joe asked. "We didn't exactly set a meeting spot!"

"Leave that to us!" Agumon said. "We digimon can find others faster than you humans. Besides, we always know where the others are. It doesn't work for all digimon, just us, but it's really helpful when we think we're lost."

"Fascinating," Joe said shortly. "Explain it to me when we aren't _running for our lives_!"

Agumon and the other digimon nodded before picking up the pace slightly. They turned down several corridors and ran up two flights of stairs before coming out onto the roof. Ahead of them were the other children, and Tai waved as he called out to them.

"Hey you guys! Listen up!"

"I don't like the tone of his voice," Matt said, his voice barely reaching them.

"We have got to get out of here now!" Tai continued.

"What do you mean Tai?" Matt asked. Before Tai could answer the floor between them collapsed inwards and Andromon climbed out of the newly formed hole. Jade and the others skidded to a stop, even though Andromon's back was towards them. Jade fought against the darkness even as Andromon's voice carried over to her.

"Capture intruders!" he declared. "Sensors detect hostility. Bring intruders into firing range. Bring missiles to position, and…fire!"

"RUN!" Jade ordered as loudly as she could. The children barely paused to consider her order, despite how shocked they were that she was talking to them. The only one who didn't move was TK. Two missiles bore down on him, and he screamed for his brother. Jade could feel Gabumon digivolving into Garurumon before Matt's digivice had even started to glow, and the now large wolf stepped in to rescue TK. Garurumon swept aside the two missiles, one exploding in mid-air, but the other turned around and began firing at Jade's group. Jade rolled forward out of range even as the others began some kind of dance to escape the burning blasts.

Agumon digivolved into Greymon and used his tail to destroy the missile, and once it was destroyed both digimon turned towards Andromon.

"Who challenges Andromon?" he asked. They leapt at him, but Andromon displayed his greater strength by throwing them over the side of the roof to a landing a little way below. The children ran forward to watch, and Jade winced as she saw how easily Greymon and Garurumon were being defeated. Another set of missiles were fired from Andromon's chest, and they collided with the wall just below where the children were standing. They all lost their balance, but Jade was the only one who fell forwards instead of backwards.

She screamed all the way down and was incredibly surprised when Andromon caught her. He set her on the ground as Greymon and Garurumon bore down on him, and stood protectively in front of her. Jade gasped. Andromon was protecting her. Whatever had happened to him on the walkway had twisted his mind just enough that he still thought everyone else was his enemy, but Jade was to be protected. A pulse of warmth from her heart alerted her to another digivolution that was happening above her, and she looked up to see a flash of light.

"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"

Kabuterimon was an insect digimon the same size as Greymon, but blue instead of orange. He had four wings on his back, four arms and two legs. On his head was a wicked looking helmet with a terribly long horn on his nose, a stinger curving down from his lower back, teeth on three sides of his mouth, forming a triangle, and if Jade hadn't known that he was friendly she would have run screaming from him. As it was she shrunk against the wall as Andromon proved his dominance over the new player.

Whilst the digimon were fighting Jade focused on the Black Gear inside Andromon. She pushed at it with all her strength and his leg rippled with electricity again. Kabuterimon used his _Electro Shocker_ attack which impacted on Andromon's leg. The Black Gear shot out from his leg and Jade glared at it until it exploded. Andromon sunk to the ground, all fight drained out of him. Kabuterimon flew the other children down quickly before de-digivolving into their Rookie forms.

"Are you alright Jade?" Tai asked once he was in front of her. Jade nodded and smiled.

"Andromon caught me," she explained softly, speaking in Japanese. Tai grinned at her, and slung an arm across her shoulders. He directed her to the larger group and they all gathered around so that they could speak to Andromon now that he wasn't trying to kill them. Agumon appeared at Tai's side and grinned at Jade.

"Are you alright Jade?" Sora asked once she was closer.

"Yes," Jade replied. She had decided that she trusted this group. While they had left her alone a few times, they had proven that they cared about her. Because of that she would speak to them. Though not a lot, she could only speak a little Japanese even though she understood most of the sounds by now. Not speaking meant not practicing aloud, but she was sure that her new friends would be able to help her with her pronunciation.

Andromon looked at her as he stood up, obviously studying her. Jade just looked back at him without losing her smile, though she knew Andromon was looking passed it. His gaze roamed over the other children and digimon, before beginning his explanation.

"That black gear reprogramed my system somehow," Andromon explained once everyone was within hearing distance. "I'm normally a non-violent digimon."

"You could have fooled us," Tai stated, but he was smiling so Jade knew that he didn't blame Andromon.

"No kidding," Sora added, before turning to Joe and whispering, "I told you he's a digimon and not an android."

"I never meant to hurt anyone," Andromon continued.

"Don't give it another thought," Matt reassured him. "We all make mistakes. Besides, you saved Jade's life. Who knows what could have happened if she kept falling."

"Why did you save her?" Izzy asked. "I only ask as the last time we encountered a digimon with a Black Gear they were unable to determine friend from foe. How did you?"

"The Black Gear changed a lot in my programming," Andromon began. "But there are parts of my programming that only I may alter. Young Jade reminds me of another I used to know a long time ago. I still have great respect for her, and would never harm her."

"The Sovereign?" Agumon asked excitedly. "You mentioned the Sovereign earlier. Did you know the Sovereign?"

"Yes, I knew her. I was very sad the day the Dark Masters cast her from the Digital World, but I know that one day she will return to us. And I know that it shall be soon."

"How?" Tentomon asked.

"And do you know what this place is for?" Gabumon asked. "Why do you guard it?"

"Who are the Dark Masters?" Agumon asked.

"The dark Masters are evil digimon, that's all I know about them," Andromon continued. "I know the Sovereign will return soon because you are here. I can't answer your questions about this place came to be or what it's for, but I can be of some help. The best way to escape from here is to follow the underground waterway. The labyrinth begins just beyond this point."

"Thanks for your help Andromon," Tai said gratefully. Jade nodded and stepped forward a little to press her hand against his metallic leg. She tried to focus on what she had done earlier, but this time pushed some positive emotion outwards. Her hands warmed up briefly, and Andromon gave a sigh of happiness.

_You're home…at last_

Jade stepped back from him, still curious, but willing to let it go. So she apparently had a major impact on the Digital World on her previous visit, but why couldn't she remember it? What had the Dark Masters, whoever they were, done to her to make her forget? Why could she feel what the digimon were feeling?

"I hope you find your way home," Andromon stated, allowing the children to pass him. "And no matter what try to remember the big guy who turned out to be not so bad."

"There's one thing you can count on," Tai promised as they moved. "We'll never forget you Andromon."

Jade waved behind her before focusing on the way out in front. The waterway was just a fancy name for sewer, and it would probably be worse walking through the sewers than walking through the desert as the sewers were unhygienic. Tai apparently thought so too because he swung her up onto his back without much warning so that her feet would remain off the ground. They were still burnt, and needed to be kept clean to heal.

At the end of the pipe was a small drop, though Tai took it as more of a step and casually walked through. The others followed easily enough behind him, though Matt lifted TK from the pipe to the ground. Everyone except for Mimi made it through, she just froze at the end of the pipe and stared at the little drop.

"I know I can do this," she murmured to herself, over and over again. "Really I can. Okay, ready, set…"

Once Mimi had jumped and landed on the ground Tai sighed with relief.

"Okay, that only took four minutes! Let's get out of here!"

"Am I the only one who finds strolling leisurely through the sewers just the slightest bit disgusting?" Joe asked.

"Tell me the truth, Izzy," TK started, falling back to talk with the red head. "Was it your computer that made Tentomon turn into a superhero?"

"Prodigious right?" Izzy told him with a smile.

"Could your computer make Patamon turn into a superhero?"

"I suppose that is possible," Izzy murmured, excitement colouring his voice.

"Wow, okay."

Jade looked behind in time to see Izzy pull out his computer, begin typing one handed, and continue walking all at the same time. She wondered what they were talking about, as a digimon needed several things to digivolve, the main two things being energy and determination. A digimon needed to want to digivolve in order to get stronger, and they needed enough energy to do so as well. As she watched, it became obvious that Izzy couldn't create the same situation again as nothing happened. They stopped walking, and Jade tapped Tai's shoulder to inform him of the delay.

Tai wanted to whack the computer to get the program to work, but Jade stopped him from making a fool of himself. She didn't want to end up in the middle of another fight after just escaping the last one unscathed. Tai reluctantly didn't try to rush at the computer as he had earlier.

"Alright, if we're finished playing with Izzy's computer," Tai began. "I think we should get a move on. Let's get out of this sewer."

There was an agreement from everyone, though Sora appeared surprised by Tai's mature decision. Jade grinned at her, and Sora's mouth fell open slightly in realisation. In all the years she had known Tai, she hadn't ever seen or met anyone who could change his mind about something. It was curious, and she silently promised herself that she would closely watch how the two of them interacted.

Something was up.

Tai and Jade were oblivious to Sora's thoughts. They were once again leading the way through the sewers, and Jade was humming softly. Their conversation was quiet, though their positive outlook was contagious. Everyone followed them with a smile.

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 5: Welcome to Toy Town and Going Up?_**


	5. Welcome to Toy Town

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 5: Welcome to Toy Town

* * *

It was very dark in the sewers. The only light came from the irregularly placed man holes and the weird glow that came off the water. Needless to say not one of the children or digimon attempted to touch it. The little river was narrow enough that the digimon were able to jump to the other side so that they formed a sort of procession onwards. They had spent the first part of their journey explaining the adventures when they were separated at the factory. Tentomon jokingly blamed Agumon for waking Andromon, before thanking him because otherwise he may not have digivolved.

"Hey Agumon?" Tai asked once the stories were over. "What were you talking about earlier? Who's the Sovereign?"

"Our Protector," Agumon replied. "While we were waiting for you guys we heard many stories about the Sovereign, though I had no idea Andromon had actually met her. Andromon is very old though, so he's probably seen a lot."

"That doesn't explain much," Izzy stated. "Do you know anything more?"

"We all call her the Sovereign," Biyomon explained. "But she had another name long ago. There are some digimon who say that she was human, others say that she was a very old digimon. Either way, everyone loved her and while she was here there was peace. But then one day she wasn't, and everything became darker."

"And who are the Dark Masters?" Matt asked. "Andromon said something about them attacking this Sovereign person."

"No idea, but they would have to be very strong to cast the Sovereign away," Agumon continued.

"One day she will come back," Gomamon stated cheerfully. "And then light will return. I wonder what the light feels like? We were born into this darkness, but already I can feel it lifting."

"Gomamon's right," Patamon chipped in. "In the back of our minds was always this sense of darkness, but that darkness isn't as strong anymore. It must be because you're here. Maybe you're the re-creation of the Sovereign!"

Somehow, Jade didn't think so. But she was curious about how she could have been the Sovereign. If she was correct in her guess of when she was last in the Digital World, she had been six, and that wasn't a very impressive time in her life. Did she have a digimon partner back then, and that was the Sovereign? And then when the Dark Masters attacked her partner was killed and she went back to the Real World? Was that what happened?

After Patamon's suggestion the digimon talked amongst themselves. The children didn't quite understand what the Sovereign meant to their partners, but Jade was pretty sure that at some stage they would understand. Shortly after that Agumon started to practice his singing, and the other digimon copied him. They came up with a cute little song, but after several times of repeating it was becoming more of a mantra than a song.

"Digimon eat and digimon fight, digimon digivolve and fight all night!"

"Singing sure is fun," Palmon observed.

"Now let's try some solo performances!" Agumon suggested. "Starting with Mimi!"

"Mimi?" the children echoed. Jade looked back in time to see Mimi's eyes narrow slightly at the implication she couldn't sing, before a grin spread across her face. Jade smiled widely, recognising that Mimi was going to sing badly on purpose.

"_Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam._"

Yet even though she was prepared for the horrid singing, Jade still winced as the off-key tune echoed through the sewers.

"Avoiding your drone," Joe sung back to Mimi.

"Hey, come on, I had singing lessons for three years," Mimi told him.

"Oh, you did?" TK asked in surprise. "Did it help?"

"Mimi, you should get a refund," Izzy told her seriously. "That's what I think."

"Then let's sing as a group," Sora said, before anyone else could insult Mimi's voice. Jade wondered what the girl really sounded like, but didn't voice her thoughts as she listened to the mantra the others were now singing.

"Digimon eat and digimon fly, digimon digivolve and –!"

"Stop it!"

The group staggered to a stop as Sora called out unexpectedly.

"Sora, are you alright?" Tai asked in concern.

"Yeah, what's the matter?" Matt asked. Sora looked at them both in shock before looking up.

"Well, some water fell from up there," she said weakly, looking to the dripping roof. Another drop fell onto her shirt and Izzy pointed at it incredulously.

"That made you scream?"

"Yeah…no..." Sora stated, before her eyes took on a faraway look. "I used to sing at home. I used to sing to myself all the time when I did my chores, especially when I'd hang clothes outside. I'd sing really loud nobody could hear me then."

"It's okay to miss your home Sora," Agumon said gently as he spotted the tears in Sora's eyes. "What do you miss, Tai?"

"I miss playing sports, then taking a long hot bath," Tai explained. Jade giggled; somehow in each letter she had received from Tai he had always included the joys of a hot bath. She had never been allowed to have a hot bath, as Dudley had always had his bath first so by the time she got to the water it was cold.

"Games, my games," TK stated sadly, kneeling down and holding his hands in front of him. "I wasn't far from beating Matt on my video games."

"Beating me TK? Gee, I don't think so, maybe in your dreams kiddo!" Matt told the little boy with a laugh.

"So you don't miss anything from home Matt?" Agumon asked curiously.

"Well, actually, now that you mention it," Matt said, laughter fading away. "I've, been dreaming about Sunday, when mom grilled steaks. Mmm, makes my mouth water."

"I miss doing my homework," Joe said, readjusting his glasses while he imagined home. "If I fall too far behind, I might have to go to a…junior college."

"I don't miss school," Mimi said, looking at Joe strangely. "But I do miss going on vacation. Nothing beats having a cold drink on a sunny day at the beach. I just love the ocean air."

"Wow, that sounds like fun Mimi," TK told her, staring up at her with bright eyes. Mimi looked down at him with a happy smile.

"It is," she assured him. Izzy joined their little clique with a serious look on his face.

"Get a grip," he told them both. "I miss accessing satellites to look at the stars and planets."

Jade looked at the children enviously. They had lots of experiences to look back on fondly, and she had nothing. Tai appeared to sense her mood for he tilted his head to catch a glimpse of her face.

"Is there anything that you miss Jade?" Gomamon asked, and Tai quickly looked at him with a shake of his head. But his warning had come too late. Jade heard the question and immediately thought of her relatives. She shook her head before hiding her face so that she wouldn't have to look at the others.

"What did I say?" Gomamon asked in fear. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry Jade, please don't be sad!"

"Jade, doesn't have many good memories," Tai said slowly. "Her home isn't…a nice place to be."

"Dreaming," Jade whispered in Japanese in Tai's ear. Then she switched to English for she didn't know all the words she needed. "I miss my dreams. I used to be able to escape into my dreams at school and no one would care, but I can't do that here."

Tai nodded, only understanding a handful of the words that she had said, but none the less he passed on what she had said to the digimon.

"She misses dreaming. She used to write to me about this Dream World, but I'm starting to think that your dream world is the Digital World. Don't you think so, Jade?"

Jade nodded, she had figured that out after their first night, but it was only recently that she was thinking her dreams weren't dreams at all, they were memories. A few of the digimon and all of the children gasped as they heard Tai's explanation.

"You've been dreaming of the Digital World?" Izzy asked in amazement. "For how long?"

"Since she was six," Tai explained. "I loved to get letters explaining this place, but there are a few differences. Jade used to write about people in her Dream World, who would take care of eggs and baby animals, who we now think were digimon, but we haven't come across anyone even resembling a human. How big is the Digital World?"

"We don't know," Tentomon explained. "How big is your world?"

"Well," Izzy began. "Earth is approximately 510,072,000 square kilometers. Of that, 29.2% is covered by land and 70.8% is covered by water."

"Why do you know that?" Matt asked in disgust.

"I found it on the internet," Izzy told him defensively. "I was curious about it so I looked it up."

"And you remembered it?" TK asked with huge eyes.

"Izzy's brain has always surprised our teachers," Mimi told the little boy. "The amount of knowledge in that head of his makes my head spiny just thinking about it."

"Well," Biyomon started. "We don't know how big the Digital World is, but it's big. This island is just a small part of our world."

"So it could be as large as Earth," Izzy murmured. "Or it could be smaller, or the same size. I wish I could access the internet…"

"They really do come from another world," Agumon murmured quietly to the other digimon.

"That's why they are depressed," Gabumon agreed.

"Poor kids," Gomamon added.

"What's the internet?" Patamon asked quietly.

"Quiet, listen everyone," Tentomon ordered. His head was turned down the path they were following, so everyone's head turned to look as well. Strange noises were coming closer, getting louder, and a horrid stench was slowly wafting towards them. Jade wrinkled her nose as the scent reached her, and looked to the digimon for an explanation.

"Numemon," Gabumon breathed.

"Numemon?" Matt repeated.

"They're really disgusting digimon who live down here in the sewers," Gomamon explained, eyes still trained on the dark.

"That's gross," Tai stated, taking a step back reflectively.

"And so are they," Tentomon told him. Everybody was frozen in indecision. Should they run? Should they press against the wall and hope the Numemon would pass them by? Should they stand and fight?

"Are they strong?" TK asked.

"No, they're weak but smelly," Agumon explained. "Just wait till they get closer."

"Then, what do you say we leave?" Joe asked. "Or am I the only one who doesn't want to get stomped by stinky sewer dwellers?"

At that moment the Numemon came into view, and Jade gasped in shock. Numemon were little green blobs, with purple spots and two eyes sticking up from their head on thin bits of skin. Their mouths were open, revealing rows of white teeth and giant pink tongues that appeared to be permanently lolling outside their mouths. Two stubby arms flailed as they ran, but as she watched Jade noticed that a few of them had pink sludge in their hands.

"There's so many of them!" Agumon cried in horror. "Hurry! Run!"

Everyone turned and ran, and Jade cringed when she realised that she was the last person in their line. As Tai had been the leader, and she was in his back, the two of them were now at the back and closest to the Numemon.

"If they're not strong," Tai started as they ran. "Why do we have to run from them?"

"You'll see, just keep running!" Agumon told him. Shortly after that the Numemon began to throw the pink sludge and after the first wave just missed them Tai swung Jade around so that she was against his front instead of his back. While this protected her, Jade was also able to now watch the little creatures come closer. For digimon without legs, they certainly moved fast.

Cries of encouragement to run faster echoed from everyone, and Jade knocked away some of the sludge that came close to hitting Tai. He thanked her as they ran, but Jade detected a change in his breathing. She removed her eyes from the Numemon and stared into Tai's face.

"You play soccer, why are you tired?" she asked in Japanese.

"I don't normally play soccer with bruised ribs," Tai told her. "Don't worry though; I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"What about you?" Jade asked.

"When we escape we'll slow down and everything will be fine," Tai said. "Stop worrying. We'll be fine."

TK spotted a tunnel that led outside, and they all ran upwards. The digimon leapt over the dirty water and as they entered the tunnel they ended up beside their partners. They kept running even as the Numemon entered the tunnel behind them. The tunnel widened as they ran, and opened up to the outside world. The afternoon sun bore down on them and they stopped running. Jade was the only one who kept her eyes on the tunnel, even as she forced Tai to put her down. As soon as the Numemon came into the light, they screamed and retreated into the darkness.

"The only think that's able to drive them away," Agumon told his partner. "Is the sunshine."

Tai nodded, even as he put his hands on his knees and worked on slowly his breathing. A few of the others noticed his difficulty with curiosity, except for Sora who hurried over to him and forced him to sit down. Jade knelt next to him and wrapped her arms around her knees, watching him with her lips between her teeth.

"You know Tai, sometimes you're just so stubborn I could hit you," Sora told him. "Why haven't you said anything? At the very least someone else could have carried Jade. Anyone else would have been more than willing to."

"I've told you this before Sora," Tai replied, staring at her meaningfully.

"And I've told you before: it's not your fault. Pushing yourself beyond your limits is only going to get you hurt or killed."

"Um, what's going on?" Mimi asked curiously. "Are you two speaking in some sort of weird code that only you understand?"

"Oh god," Matt stated. "Your ribs. They haven't healed yet."

"What's wrong with his ribs?" Joe asked Matt, before turning to Tai. "What's wrong with your ribs?"

"Shellmon was exactly gentle with me," Tai said with a wave of his hand. "It's just taking a bit longer than I first thought to shake off the effects."

"Are you right to travel?" Joe asked. "We could probably rest here for a while if you need us to."

"No," Tai said, shaking his head. "We need to find somewhere to rest tonight. Stopping here is not a good idea."

"Have your ribs healed at all?" Sora asked in a whisper so the others wouldn't hear her. Jade focused on Tai, wanting to hear his answer as well.

"Not really," Tai whispered back. "It'll just take some more time than I first thought. Walking all day, every day, isn't helping."

"And neither is carrying Jade," Sora told him. "You don't have to do everything alone. We're here to help as well."

Jade put her hand on Tai's arm, and he smiled at her reassuringly. He leant across to whisper in her ear, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. She smiled back at him before working with Sora to help him to stand. They watched him for a few moments before turning to the others and gesturing onwards. There was still some uncertainty, but they all started to move. Matt appeared next to Tai, and seeing that the blonde boy wanted to talk to Tai alone, Jade walked forward so that she was with TK.

"Tai, how serious are your bruises?" Matt asked. "Mine were sore yesterday, but today I haven't thought about them at all."

"Shellmon stopped me from breathing for a few moments," Tai admitted softly. "Before Agumon digivolved, I really thought I was going to die. And then when Agumon digivolved I'm pretty sure that I blacked out for a moment. When I could see again it was to see Jade next to me. She had looked so worried, so I brushed off the pain."

"Tai, I don't know how you take care of yourself at home, but we need you to take better care of yourself. Let us know when you're not well. We're in this together, and what hurts one of us hurts all of us. Please, don't hide when you're injured."

"When we stop I'm going to get Sora to look at them again."

"Maybe get Joe to look as well; he is aspiring to be a doctor you know."

Tai nodded, and looked over the rest of the group. Jade was walking hand in hand with TK, and the two were laughing the higher they could swing their arms. Matt was also looking at his brother, so he nodded once to Tai before speeding up to walk nearer to him. Tai remained at the back of the group, and Agumon walked beside him.

"I'm sorry Tai," the little dinosaur said. "I wasn't fast enough on the beach."

"Nonsense," Tai said, not looking down. "If it hadn't been for you, I would have died. You saved my life. Yeah, I would have liked to be rescued faster, but never think that I'm blaming you for my injuries."

"But I told you to give me a diversion."

"And I went along with it. I know now that if I'm ever in danger you will be there to fight with me, and protect me. Don't sell yourself short. I'm grateful to you, and wouldn't want anyone else to be my partner."

Agumon blushed, his mood restored to its formerly happy outlook. Sora looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him. Tai stuck out his tongue at her and she turned around with a laugh. They continued to walk for at least another hour, hot and sweaty and tired. They were close to calling a stop, and Tai was thinking about heading for the trees in the distance so they would at least have some cover during the night, but when they came to a slight hill they stopped. Stretched out before them was a large collection of vending machines.

"There must be thousands of them!" Mimi declared.

"I'd say under a hundred," Joe corrected her.

"Or maybe just fifty," Izzy corrected them both.

"How did they get there?" TK asked.

"Maybe they fell out of the sky," Jade told him.

"But wouldn't they be smashed if they fell from the sky?" TK rebutted. The two looked at each other before slyly glancing at Izzy. The two grinned before simultaneously saying:

"Aliens."

"Very funny," Izzy said, having heard their conversation. "But I'll have you know that I have disregarded my alien theory."

The two groaned, much to Izzy's amusement, before turning their attention to Mimi who was staring at the vending machines captivated.

"I bet there's enough snacks to last us a lifetime, at least," she said.

"Mimi, they probably don't work," Tai told her. "Don't you remember the phone booths?"

"Hey! That could be! This could be a trick Mimi," Palmon told her partner.

"I won't accept that," Mimi said before running down the hill into the forest of vending machines. Everyone watched her go, though none made a move to follow her. Palmon stood frozen for a moment before running off after Mimi, and Jade walked over to where Tai and Sora were.

"Even if they're real, you know they're not plugged in!" Joe called after her.

"Mimi," Tai sighed.

"You can't stop her, she's so stubborn," Sora told him. "Like a certain other person I know."

Jade giggled, even as Tai looked sheepish. Her eyes flickered upwards when a shadow fell over her, and she frowned when she realised that a collection of clouds were making their way across the sun. While they would now be protected from the sun's glare, something in her told her that it was a bad sign…and Mimi's scream a few seconds later did little to reassure her. Her eyes focused on the vending machines, and Mimi's form sprinting towards them at lightning speed. Behind her and Palmon were the Numemon, and they were clearly picking up where they had left off in the sewers.

"How did they get here?" Sora asked, frozen with one hand pointed towards the approaching Numemon.

"Who cares?" Mimi asked as she flew passed them. "Run!"

It seemed that Mimi's movement through the group woke them up for they were once again running for their lives. It was Matt's idea to split up, but before they could go too far, Tai grabbed Jade's hand with the intention of taking her with him. Jade went willingly enough, and for a while they followed Mimi. Once they reached the trees they spilt, so when Mimi continued forwards Tai pulled them to the side.

"This is not good," Tai panted. "Agumon, can you fight them?"

"There's too many Tai," Agumon replied. He looked up at Tai with worry. "Your face has gone white again. Is it supposed to do that when you've been running a lot?"

"No," Tai said, one hand now on his chest with Jade's hand in his other one. "I'm just finding it a little hard to breathe right now. I need to stop running."

Agumon nodded and stopped running. Jade stopped as well and looked back at Agumon. Agumon sent fire balls at the Numemon as quick as he could, while Tai sunk to his knees, breathing hard. Jade put her hand on the back of his neck.

"You need to take care of yourself better," Jade told him in slow Japanese. "You matter to me. I do not want you to be hurt."

"I know," Tai whispered. "I'm sorry, Jade. Once this is over we should find somewhere to stay, for a day or so. I can heal if I don't do move about too much."

"Okay," Jade replied, before an awfully familiar cold feeling washed over her. There was a Black Gear nearby. Tai looked up at her gasp, before the earth below them shuddered under the pounding of something heavy. The two looked up as what appeared to be a giant yellow teddy bear with red eyes loomed above them.

"Have fun with me in Toy Town!" the digimon ordered.

"Black Gear," Jade whispered, her hand over her heart. Tai forced himself to stand and started to run in the opposite direction of the teddy bear.

"Agumon! Time to go! A digimon with a Black Gear is about to attack us!"

"How do you know?" Agumon asked, but already the Numemon were retreating and the teddy bear was trying to attack them. "Never mind!"

"Who is this guy?" Tai asked, panting hard.

"Monzaemon," Agumon replied. "Why does he have a Black Gear in him? How did you know?"

"Jade told me."

"Attack him Agumon!" Jade pleaded. "We cannot keep running."

"_Pepper Breath_!" Agumon chanted, a fireball flying at Monzaemon. The attack had no effect, and Monzaemon unleashed an attack of his own.

"_Heart's Attack_!"

Jade screamed and automatically shielded her face as blue love-heart bubbles captured them. Her mind went blank as the attack ripped her of her ability to move. Her last thought was about Tai and the other children, and what had happened to them. She hoped they were alright.

Darkness.

* * *

Jade opened her eyes to discover that she was inside a toy box. Her heart rate increased as she struggled to supress the growing panic. She curled up as best as she could, wondering all the while where the digimon and children were. She had been holding Tai's hand when the heart bubble hit her, but he wasn't with her. No one was. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she pulled her knees even tighter to her chest.

"Let me out," she whispered in English. "Please. I'll be good, I promise. Let me out. Let me out! LET ME OUT!"

By the end of plea she was yelling and banging on the walls of her prison, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Her cries became sobs even as her fists started to bleed from the furious attacks against the walls. Still her screams rang out and her panic increased. While her room was cupboard under the stairs, she hated small and dark places, because that usually meant she was with the Dursleys and alone.

"Jade? Jade is that you?"

"Agumon?" Jade asked, her screams stopping instantly. She wasn't completely alone then. "Where are you? Where am I? Where are Tai, and the others? Can you get me out? I don't like it in here!"

"Jade, you have to calm down," Agumon told her. "Take deep breaths okay? We don't know where the other kids are, but us digimon are all in this box. Mimi and Palmon are out in Toy Town at the moment fighting Monzaemon. You just need calm down, we'll be out of here soon."

Jade did her best to calm down, but her heart rate wouldn't listen to her. She began to wish with all her might to be out of the chest, that she would be out in the light, and that she would be able to see. The sensation of being squeezed through a small pipe pulled at her, and when she opened her eyes she was sitting outside a fairly large chest. For half a moment she stared at it before scuttling backwards until she collided with a wall.

"Jade? What happened? Are you alright?"

Jade turned around and spotted another chest, this one slightly bigger than her one. The voices of the other digimon were echoing from it. Still feeling strangely weak, Jade used the wall to help her stand and walked over to the chest. She had taught herself to pick locks when she was younger and starving, so it was no chore to pick the lock before her. When she opened the chest it was to see Agumon, Gabumon, Tentomon, Biyomon, Gomamon and Patamon staring at her in shock. Gomamon was the first to move and leapt out into her arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "There was this loud sound, like someone had slammed a door as hard as they could, and you were silent. How did you get out of your box? Why were you in a box? Was anyone else with you?"

Gabumon looked at Gomamon sternly, and the little digimon went quiet. The other digimon climbed or flew out of the box and looked to where there was another box, this one with the lock still firmly attached to the outside.

"How did you get out?" Patamon asked.

"I just…wished really hard and then the next thing I knew I was sitting outside the box instead of inside it," Jade explained, still in English as it appeared the digimon could understand her just fine.

"Wishing?" Agumon repeated. "Maybe you're magical."

"There's no such thing as magic," Jade stated without even thinking about what she was saying. Uncle Vernon had yelled it at her often enough that she believed it herself.

"Yes there is," Biyomon told her in shock. "Don't you believe in magic?"

Jade shook her head. She turned to look out the window, recognising that she was inside a little house. She walked outside, Gomamon still in her arms, and looked towards what had caught her attention. A plume of smoke was rising from the centre of the town, and Jade knew that that was where Monzaemon was. Energy stirred in her heart, though it was different than previous times. Gomamon started as she put him down.

"What was that?" he asked. "You got warm all of a sudden."

Jade looked down at him, unaware of the glow in her eyes. She smiled.

"There's something I need to do," she told them, not entirely sure why she said so, but nonetheless ran off towards where Monzaemon was fighting. Behind her the digimon sat still in indecision.

"Her eyes were glowing," Patamon said unnecessarily. "Why?"

"Her body temperature went up," Gomamon added.

"It was like someone else was inside her," Agumon murmured. "But then it was Jade who was smiling at us."

"She's not like the other children," Gabumon observed.

"No, she's not," Tentomon added. "But, still, something about her is very familiar."

"I agree," Agumon said. "Let's keep this to ourselves for now. We can discuss it later. Let's go and help Palmon."

The other digimon agreed and started to make their way to the centre of Toy Town.

Meanwhile, Jade was moving quickly through the streets. She had already passed Matt, Izzy and Joe who were still being played with, and was forced to leap over a group of toys that had wanted to play with her, but she was gaining on Monzaemon. The energy inside her was getting stronger, and so was her confidence. It baffled her, but at the same time she knew that she could trust this energy with everything she had.

As she appeared from a side street, she witnessed Monzaemon having a boxing match with what looked like a giant cactus wearing red boxing gloves. She blinked once, before realising that Palmon must have digivolved as Mimi was standing off to the side watching with her hands clasped over her mouth. Jade turned her gaze from Mimi and stared at Monzaemon.

_Help me_

The call came from deep inside Monzaemon's heart, and Jade focused on the darkness. She pushed at it with all her strength, just as the cactus digimon unleashed another attack.

"_Needle Spray_!"

Monzaemon screamed as the needles pierced his body, but the Black Gear was forcefully ejected from his back. Jade continued to force energy at it until it exploded. She nodded in satisfaction, stepping back into the shadows. The other digimon wouldn't be far away, and she wanted to find the other children and pull them from their brainwashing.

She climbed up onto the nearest roof and leapt across the buildings until she could see the others. She focused the energy in her heart on each of the children and as soon as the energy hit them they blinked a few times, as if waking from a long sleep, and looked around in confusion. Tai was the last one she got to, but she didn't stare at him from the roof, she was right in front of him. She felt really weak afterwards, and the boy was forced to carry her to where Monzaemon was recovering from his experience with a Black Gear.

"What an odd experience," Tai stated as he and Jade got closer to where the other children were. They looked relieved when they came closer, and after a quick count Tai realised that they were the last ones to arrive. Agumon bounded over and hugged Tai around his waist and Tai hugged him back whilst also making sure Jade remained on his back.

"Were we all brainwashed?" Izzy asked, seeing that everyone was looking a little worse for wear.

"Everyone except Jade and Mimi," Biyomon explained. "Jade was with us in one of the boxes."

"Why didn't she speak when Palmon and I were there?" Mimi asked, looking at Jade's exhausted form.

"She woke up shortly after you left," Agumon explained. "She…didn't like being a box."

"We can see that," Joe stated, gesturing to Jade's bloodied hands. "But why wasn't Jade brainwashed?"

"Maybe her mind works differently to everyone else's?" Palmon suggested. "She is the only one without a digivice; maybe the digivices were what allowed Monzaemon to control you?"

"That is not a happy thought," Joe told the green digimon. He looked over at Monzaemon, who was now sitting up and looking much more like a friendly teddy bear than earlier. Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him, Monzaemon apologised and explained what happened. Apparently Toy Town was a place for the toys to feel more important when they had been discarded and thrown away. Monzaemon's attacks weren't meant to turn children into zombies.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Monzaemon said again. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"We know you didn't mean to hurt us," Tai forgave.

"Of course not!" Monzaemon said. "But an evil feeling came over me."

"It had to be that black gear," Sora suggested.

"You know, I'm beginning to take this whole black gear thing pretty personally," Tai added. He shifted Jade so that she could sit on his hip and be a little more comfortable. "They cause a whole lot of trouble before disappearing."

"That's right, but me and Palmon made Monzaemon good again," Mimi informed them all.

"We make a great team," Palmon agreed.

"My friends," Monzaemon interrupted. "There's only one way I can truly show my gratitude and that's by giving you all a real heart hug."

"Oh boy," Joe uttered. Jade turned her head so that she could stare at Monzaemon. She wasn't sure that she wanted a heart hug.

"Here we go!" Monzaemon called. "This is my gift to you! _Hearts attack! With a hug_!"

Pink heart bubbles erupted from Monzaemon and engulfed each child and digimon. Jade was pulled from Tai's grip, and she felt warm. An emotion that she had never felt before warmed her from the inside out, and it was similar to what she felt when the digimon digivolved. Two images appeared in her mind's eye, a woman with red hair, and a boy with blonde hair. Each looked at her with such warmth and caring, Jade instantly fought. She felt very lonely all of a sudden.

_I love you, my precious daughter_

_Be safe, little princess_

Jade blinked as the two contrasting voices echoed with her soul. She smiled. Somehow, she knew that these two beings were watching over her. Her eyes turned towards where Tai was looking at her with a smile on his face. Jade grinned at him, and he appeared to relax even more. She allowed the warmth of what she thought was love to grow in her heart, and imagined it being released to everyone. Laughter bubbled up from around her, and Jade curled up in her bubble. She fell asleep instantly, not even waking when she was let down into Joe's arms. She didn't wake until the sun was already above the horizon the following morning.

* * *

The children were excited to sleep in beds, even though the beds were little. Still, for the short ones in the group like Izzy, TK and Jade, there were no problems at all. The older ones however, decided the sleeping on the floor with pillows and blankets was a better choice. Tai, Sora, Matt and Joe crowded around while the others slept, and kept quiet to make sure that the others remained asleep.

"Alright," Joe started. "I think we need to discuss certain issues. First up, how badly are you actually injured Tai?"

"Bruises only, though when I run for a while I find it hard to breathe," Tai replied with extreme reluctance. Joe nodded thoughtfully and ordered Tai to take off his shirt. That was something that Tai really didn't want to do, but he did so anyway and did his best to ignore Matt and Joe's gasps of horror, Sora merely pressed her lips together having seen it when it looked worse.

"That looks very painful," Matt commented, thinking of his own yellow bruises. "It's almost amazing that nothing's broken."

"Cleanly broken, no," Joe stated. "But there is a high possibility that some of your ribs are cracked. You need to take it easy if you want these bruises to heal."

"Can I put my shirt on?" Tai asked, twisting the material in his hands anxiously. He didn't normally display his injuries for anyone, not even his parents. His bruises were still black, though the outsides of the bruises were taking on an interesting yellow colour. His chest kind of looked like a rainbow gone wrong. Joe nodded to his question and Tai quickly slid the shirt over his head and turned for the next item of discussion.

"Are injured as well Matt?" Joe asked. "You were caught with Seadramon."

"Nothing that bad," Matt explained. "The bruises are yellow now, and I expect will be completely gone in a few days."

Matt lifted his shirt to prove his point, and after Joe's nod lowered it. Joe's only request was that Tai stop carrying Jade around, let someone else do it if it was necessary as her feet were now well enough to walk on, and he was to tell anyone if he was having any trouble breathing or if there was tightness or pain in his chest.

"Great, now that that's settled, I'm concerned about Jade," Sora said. "Has anyone else noticed the changes?"

"You mean that she's more comfortable with us?" Matt asked. "She's talking more than before, and she smiles."

"Well, there is that, but even though she always appears to be in danger, sometimes it's like she's the safest out of all of us," Sora explained. "Meramon didn't harm her, and he carried her afterwards showing how worried he was. Andromon actually caught her when she fell off the roof. And just now with Monzaemon, she wasn't brainwashed like we were. She was kept with the digimon."

"How did they get out of the trucks?" Tai asked. "Agumon showed me where they were kept, and Mimi said she hadn't freed them. So who did? Jade was in a trunk to herself, but she got out without opening to lock."

"Or whoever did let her out bolted the truck again once she was free," Joe hypothesised.

"Meramon talked about a light, or warmth that he was looking for when he was being controlled by the Black Gear," Matt stated. "And Andromon said that Jade reminded him of someone, the Sovereign? And Tai, you said Jade's been dreaming about the Digital World for years?"

"That's right," Tai replied, wondering where Matt was going with his line of thought.

"Has anyone else considered that Jade's been to the Digital World before, a long time ago?" Matt asked them. "The digimon who recognise her, there has to be a reason for that right?"

"Why wouldn't she say so before now though?" Sora asked. "And you remember how scared she was when we first arrived. She looked just like the rest of us but without a digimon."

"Maybe she has amnesia or something," Tai suggested. "But she doesn't really want to forget so her subconscious is sending her memories of the Digital World in her dreams."

The other three looked at him in shock, and he shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" Matt asked suspiciously.

"Since I was standing watch at the trolley car," Tai told him. "I knew there had to be a reason that Jade was here even though she doesn't have a digivice. It couldn't have been a coincidence that she was here like we were. Her being here before made sense to me, but…"

"But…what?" Sora asked.

"There were people in her dreams," Tai explained with his eyebrows furrowed together. "Where are those people? A man she called Gennai, I think, was the main focus of her dreams. He took care of the baby digimon, and a bunch of eggs in a big room."

"Did she say anything about an angel, or Sovereign?" Joe asked. Tai shook his head slowly, thinking back over the letters.

"How about we keep an eye on her then?" Sora suggested. "There's no point in worrying about this now. As long as we're all safe and healthy, then I'll be happy."

The others agreed with her, and settled in for the night. What they hadn't realised was that Agumon and Gomamon were still awake and had heard their conversation. It filled in some blanks for them, and created theories of their own. They silently promised to keep it quiet, but if there became a need for it they would tell the other digimon. For now though, they just needed to watch and protect.

But still, as everyone fell asleep, one question formed in their minds:

Who was Jade Potter?

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 6: Going Up?_**


	6. Going Up?

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 6: Going Up?

* * *

The following morning Jade woke up feeling oddly energetic. She was also amongst the first to wake so she got out of the bed she didn't remember going to sleep on and walked around to explore a little. She waved to Gabumon who was also awake before leaving without making a sound. She strolled through Toy Town, playing with a few of the toys she walked passed along the way.

"Little one, what are you doing up?"

Jade turned around and looked up at Monzaemon. She grinned and waved, running over to him. Monzaemon lifted her off the ground and settled her on his shoulder.

"The others are still sleeping, so I decided to walk around for a bit before we head off," Jade explained. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that I've slept," Monzaemon stated. "Those Black Gears are vile. But I felt the strangest thing while it was controlling me. There was this strange feeling of warmth and light that fought back against the gear. And for a brief moment as Togemon attacked me, I'm pretty sure that I saw her…the Sovereign."

Jade assumed that Togemon was the cactus digimon, but aside from that bit of information she was more than curious about the Sovereign. She asked Monzaemon to explain what he meant a little more.

"When I was a Numemon a long time ago," Monzaemon began. "I saw the battle between the Sovereign and a dark digimon whose name I don't know. I had never seen him before. But I do remember feeling cold when he came too close to my brothers and me, and then I remember the warmth and happiness that grew inside of me when the Sovereign stood in front of us. It didn't matter that we Numemon were considered the dregs of the Digital World, the Sovereign fought to protect us anyway."

"So, when you saw her when you battled Togemon, what did you mean?"

"The same warmth I felt when I digivolved into Monzaemon after the battle filled me. I knew that she was nearby. And then I saw her, she was a silhouette against the sun, but I will never forget her figure. All that was missing were her wings, but I assumed they were folding into her back. When I turned to look for her, after the Black Gear was gone, I couldn't find her. I would dearly love to see her again. Her power helped me to digivolve you know?"

"What happened to her?"

"Don't know. One day the darkness was stronger than the light and I heard that the Sovereign had been sent away. I think it was Centarumon who told me, he said that the Sovereign had been cast from the Digital World, but that one day she would return. This is her home after all."

Jade nodded slowly and looked around. Maybe Monzaemon had imagined seeing the Sovereign, and she certainly hadn't been on the roof until she was looking for the children. Maybe there had been another digimon in Toy Town who had disappeared as soon as the battle was over so that she wouldn't be seen. Jade didn't know, she was, however, happy that there were no Black Gears nearby. She disliked feeling the darkness.

"There you are Jade!"

Jade looked down and waved at Matt. He called back to the others inside the house and they all came out to see her and Monzaemon. Jade hopped back onto the ground and walked over to the group.

"Where are you headed?" Monzaemon asked as the children made preparations to leave. Tai pointed towards the tallest mountain on the island and Monzaemon nodded.

"Infinity Mountain," he said. "What are you hoping to find up there?"

"A way home," Sora explained. "It's were we first started when we got to this world, and we're hoping that we'll be able to find a way home up there as well."

"Well, good luck to you, and know that you will always be welcome in Toy Town."

"Thank-you, Monzaemon!"

Jade waved from the back of the group before jogging after the group. She hummed a little tune that had come to her in the middle of the night, and she didn't want to forget it. It was familiar, but also full of promise. Now if she could only remember the words…

* * *

"I know this is no day at the beach, Joe," Gomamon whined. "But that's no reason to be a worrywart about to make all your friends unhappy. Pardon the pun but, chill out! Only you have a problem with the cold. Right guys? Think warm."

"I'm allergic to fur," Joe moaned. Mimi and TK shivered at the back of the group, their arms wrapped around their bodies for warmth. Jade was certain she was turning blue, and she couldn't stop shivering. She had been cold doing chores for the Dursleys during the middle of winter, but this was so much worse. At least back in England she had been wearing shoes.

They had been walking all day, and the sun was going down. They probably had another hour or two before they would need to stop due to inability to see. The only problem was that they had yet to find somewhere nice and warm. Everywhere was freezing.

"Ah, come on you guys, the cold isn't that terrible," Tai stated. Izzy gaped at him.

"Perhaps not if you were a polar bear or a penguin," he said.

"Yeah, but if it snows, we'll throw some snowballs!" Tai rebutted.

"And make snowmen!" Mimi added with excitement.

"Who do you reckon Snowmon is?" Gomamon asked Gabumon.

"A digimon from their planet," Gabumon replied.

Jade stopped walking and watched as the conversation unfolded. She figured that Tentomon was hungry as every question he had was if snowmen, snowballs and igloos were edible. Joe was the voice of reason, and the only one who was worrying about what would happen when night came. Sora was trying to convince him to think positively, but Joe wasn't too keen on listening to that argument.

Jade continued to walk, but she agreed with Joe. They had been able to camp outside every night since arriving in the Digital World, but now that it was colder they wouldn't be able to do so unless they wanted to freeze. She shivered as the darkness of more Black Gears passing overhead distracted her. That was the third wave of that morning, and she had a terrible feeling about whoever was controlling them. She walked further forward, jumping up and down a few times to keep the blood pumping through her veins. She looked up to survey the terrain ahead, and gasped in shock.

The others looked up at her gasp, and they darted forward to see what had captured her attention.

"What's all this white stuff?" Gomamon asked.

"It's a field of snow!" Mimi exclaimed. "There's bound to be a ski resort nearby!"

"Oh man! This is much worse than even I thought it was!" Joe cried in horror.

"What now guys?" Sora asked. TK, Mimi and most of the digimon were out running through the snow, though Jade was still standing on the ground that hadn't been snowed on. She hated the feel of cold snow under her feet, it chilled her whole body. She didn't think she could afford to get even colder, if she turned any bluer there was a high chance she would become a snow block.

"I think we should keep going," Tai said. "We're not going to get anywhere just sitting here."

"If we walk across the field in our sneakers our toes will go numb," Matt warned. "And Jade's not wearing shoes at all remember."

"It's impossible to continue!" Joe cried.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Tai asked, turning to look at Joe. "Just stand here like a bunch of dorks? We either go across the field or climb up that big mountain. Come over here Jade; get your feet off the ground."

Jade flitted across the ground and hopped onto Tai's back, despite the frown that the other children were giving him. She cuddled as close to his back as she could, and wished that she was back in the desert because then at least she had been warm. Agumon started to sniff the air, and the smell of sulphur floated over to the group. The thoughts of a hot spring spurned the group on and soon they were all running for the steam column in the distance.

The hot springs were really hot, so hot that they would cook if they so much as touched the inky water. Jade positioned herself near the edge as soon as Tai put her down and held her feet up so that the heat would warm them. The warmth felt wonderful on her skin, and she felt that she could easily drift off to sleep with no regard for anything else.

"Uh oh, this water is much too hot," Tai stated, keeping a close eye on Jade so that she wouldn't fall in unexpectedly.

"We'd be cooked if we jumped in this," Tentomon stated.

"Yes," Izzy agreed from behind Tentomon. "Boiled."

"Well, there go by big dreams of a nice warm bath," Mimi lamented.

"It looks so inviting," Palmon stated with a smile.

"Well, it would be inviting if you were a vegetable," Matt agreed.

"What's a little dirt compared to starving?" Joe asked. "We need to find something to eat and there's nothing in sight!"

"Oh yes there is," TK said.

"What are you talking about?" Joe asked the young boy. "There's nothing here but a bunch of rocks and boiling water!"

"Look!" TK ordered, pointing off to the side. Joe turned to follow the other boy's finger, and his jaw dropped.

"Tell me I'm not imagining this," he begged. Jade turned to look as well and blinked as she saw a refrigerator sitting innocently on the ground. She wondered what food would be in the refrigerator, but made no move of her own to find out. She was quite comfortable sitting by the hot spring. The children and digimon crowded around the fridge, except for Joe who was clearly uncomfortable in what he perceived as stealing.

Tai opened the fridge and discovered that there were dozens upon dozens of eggs waiting to be cooked and eaten.

"There must be a zillion of them," Agumon breathed with wide eyes.

"Yeah! Grub on!" Tai called. "These will keep us all fat for a month!"

"Wait a minute! You shouldn't even touch them!" Joe called. "We don't know if they're fit for human consumption!"

"Then I'll be the guineapig!" Tai stated cheerfully. "If I turn purple you'll know they aren't edible."

"There's more to it than that," Joe told him with a frown. "Even if they were edible they don't belong to us. That would make us all thieves! You gotta think about stuff like that Tai!"

"Unless you're in to eating rocks we don't have too much choice," Matt said testily.

"I'm sure they'd say yes if they knew we were in trouble," Sora added.

"Exactly," Izzy said. "We'd tell them it's an emergency situation."

"Rationalise away," Tentomon told his partner.

Jade looked over at the group before leaving her warm spot and standing by Joe. She took his arm and looked up at him with wide eyes. He caved under her look, sighing and agreeing to help prepare dinner.

With excitement the children started to prepare for dinner. The digimon carved bowls out of tree parts using their teeth and claws, whilst Joe was elected to sharpen chopsticks. TK and Patamon boiled some eggs in a makeshift basket by dunking it into the cleaner hot spring, Tai and Izzy collected the wood for Joe, and Sora and Biyomon cooked the rest of the food and tended to the fire. Jade was curious about what they were making, so she went over to watch.

"We'd be in big trouble if someone got sick," Joe muttered to himself as Jade walked passed. "No doctors here, you know? Why do I always have to be the one to think about these things?"

Jade stopped walking and looked up at Joe. The older boy was really feeling down, and the fact that they'd been in the Digital World for four days was probably weighing heavily on his mind. She sat on the rock next to him and watched him work. He didn't seem to notice her presence. She wondered what he was really bothering him.

"Dinner's ready!"

Jade looked towards Tai who was waving at them from the fire pit. She grinned and slid off her rock. With a quick glance at Joe, who had been surprised when she moved, she grabbed his hand and dragged him over. She sat down next to Tai as a bowl was put in front of her with two sticks. She held the sticks curiously, and watched as everyone else used them to eat. While she had had the option of using chopsticks on camp, she still preferred to use a knife and fork, or her fingers if there weren't any around. Mimi handed the girl her pocket knife that also had a knife and fork attachment. Jade grinned her appreciation and dug in to her eggs.

"Oh yeah!" Tai exclaimed happily. "I haven't had a meal like this in a long time! My stomach's chiming!"

"If we had some ketchup to go with this, it would be perfect," Matt added. TK groaned his approval.

"That sounds gross," Sora told Matt. Jade laughed. When she cooked eggs for her relatives, she usually added ham, tomato, onions, capsicum and an eclectic mix of herbs and spices. There hadn't been any complaints about the final result, so she assumed that it tasted alright. She had never eaten it herself.

"What's the matter Joe?" Gomamon asked. "You haven't eaten anything. You'll be as thin as Jade if you stop eating."

Jade blinked at Gomamon, and once he was looking at her she stuck her tongue out at him. She laughed lightly before returning to her eggs, and eating quickly.

"I was just thinking that if we were able to go home ketchup wouldn't be a problem," Joe replied sadly, not noticing the interaction between Jade and Gomamon. "Oh well."

"Now I'm homesick," Mimi declared sadly. "How depressing."

"I want to go home," TK added.

"It's been four days since we've been here," Izzy explained. "I wonder if anyone's tried to find out where we are."

"Cheer up!" Sora ordered, staring around at the sad faces. "Tell me how you like your eggs and I'll do my very best."

"I prefer my eggs to be covered in salt and pepper," Joe said. "But I guess it doesn't matter."

"I like soy sauce," Tai said with a grin.

"How about salsa?" asked Matt.

"How about a reality check?" Sora told them.

"I'll have mine with mustard and jellybeans please," Izzy requested. Tai laughed even as Izzy's request was met with both laughter and intrigue. TK was particularly interested in trying out jellybeans with his eggs, while Jade went a little green imagining the contrast in flavours. She wasn't one to turn down food considering how irregularly she got it, but she didn't think that she would ever accept such a weird combination.

"You're both weird," Mimi informed them. "My favourite is eggs topped with maple syrup! Yummy! Sometimes I like them with cherries on top."

Jade pushed her bowl away, no longer able to eat. Tai looked at her sternly, but didn't force her after seeing her expression. Sora looked at her in concern, probably having guessed her lack of appetite. Thankfully, no one asked her how she liked her eggs.

"What? You're making me completely lose my appetite!" Joe wailed, horrified. "And now Jade's stopped eating! I wish we could talk about something other than egg recipes!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Gomamon told him. "They're just having fun."

"Come on! Join the party!" Matt laughed.

"I think it's really too late for him," Tai told Matt. "I think Joe's thinks we've gone a bit crazy over these eggs!"

"Well really, jellybeans and cherries on eggs? That's just crazy talk! Salt and pepper's all they need! Keep it simple, that's always been my motto!"

Jade sensed the change in the air. Joe was quickly turning into a basket case, and he needed to be pulled away before his comments hurt everyone else, or their comments hurt him. While she was no longer hungry, she understood that everyone was just trying to have fun. She stood and walked behind Joe, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You need to calm down," she whispered into his ear. "They are just playing. I will eat a little later when the others have stopped talking about recipes. Why are you so negative?"

"We may never get home!" Joe said his frustrations finally able to be heard. "We may be stuck here forever, wherever here is! And they're treating this as one big vacation! How can anybody be calm about this?"

Jade sighed and started to pull Joe away from the table. Joe left the table willingly enough and Jade led him to the other side of one of the hot springs. The steam that it was letting off provided enough cover that they couldn't see anyone else.

"Why don't you want them to have fun?" Jade asked once Joe was sitting again.

"It's not about having fun," Joe moaned. "We're stuck in the middle of a strange land, with no way to contact our families! How are we ever going to get home?"

"With time," Jade answered. "It hasn't even been a week yet. Everything happens for a reason."

"Yeah, but how long will it take? Will we all be old and decrepit?"

"I don't know," Jade told him softly. "Gomamon won't let anything bad happen to you though. That's why he hangs around you, to protect you."

"Like how Agumon protected Tai?" Joe snapped. "I saw what Shellmon did to him. Is that going to happen to us too? And then we were all brainwashed by Monzaemon, our digimon couldn't do anything to help us then either. What if next time something really bad happens and one of us dies?"

"We're not going to die," Jade whispered. "We can't, because then what would be the point of being here?"

"Jade, I wish I could be as positive as you, but I can't."

"You don't have to be so paranoid," Jade said.

"I've got to be the cautious one around here," Joe whispered. He threw a rock into the hot spring. "I have to be, the voice of reason. I have to."

Jade smiled at him and stood up. Joe just needed a little time to himself and then he would be fine. She walked back to where the other children were, and was surprised to see that a fight had started between Tai and Matt. Her eyes met Sora's and she tilted her head curiously.

"Here," she said handing over her bowl of eggs. "You didn't finish before leaving."

Jade made herself comfortable on the ground and watched as the conversation between the two boys escalated. Tai's opinion was that they climb Infinity Mountain so that they could see the entire island, but Matt thought that it was too dangerous. Joe returned during the fight and somehow ended up involved.

Jade just ignored them and left the group to their own devices. There was a cave a short distance from the hot springs that would be warm throughout the night, and she wanted to find a warm space to sleep before the others could steal it from her. TK saw her disappearing and ran off to be by her side. Jade looked at him with a smile.

"Are you going to find somewhere to sleep?" TK asked.

"Yes," Jade told him, nodding decisively. "There are some caves up here that will be warm tonight. We can sleep there while the boys argue."

"They argue a lot, don't they?" TK asked rhetorically. "Why do they fight so much?"

"Different personalities," Jade explained. "Once they find some common ground, they will be best friends. You will see."

"I hope so, hey, Patamon? Can you tell us a story tonight? I wanna hear more about this Sovereign. Do you know any stories about her?"

"I only know one story," Patamon explained. He was sitting on TK's hat, so Jade needed to look up to see him. "I can't remember who told it to me, but I think I remember enough to tell you."

"Great! Come on Jade! Let's find a good place before all the older kids steal it from us!"

Jade allowed TK to pull her along, curious as well about the Sovereign stories that existed. Maybe one story would jog her memory and allow her to remember it. Once inside the cave, she and TK curled up in the back under Jade's blanket, with Patamon squeezed in between them. Jade closed her eyes as she listened.

"Long ago, a human child was pulled into the Digital World by one of the Guardians, and they kept the child for years. This child, a girl, had strange abilities that no human before her had wielded. She was in great danger, both from other humans in her world, and the dark digimon in our world. So the Guardians kept her sheltered, and in time a digimon came forth to protect the little girl who had since become known as the little princess. This protector digimon stood against the dark digimon and kept the little princess safe.

"One day, the little princess was out with the baby digimon when the dark digimon attacked. There was a great battle, and the Protector won, but the price was high. The baby digimon had been killed. The little princess was so upset that her abilities went wild. Any digimon with darkness in their heart was pushed away violently, and eggs rained from the sky. When the little princess returned to the human world, the protector digimon was never seen again.

"The protector digimon had no official name, though I have heard that she had wings of flame. Protector was a popular name, but near the end of the little princess' time here, the protector became the Sovereign over the digimon who couldn't defend themselves. She became a demigod, I suppose. We truly know that we're safe when we hear the Bells of Truth, a melody that signifies the coming of the Sovereign. All us younger digimon long to hear the bells, but we have yet to hear them."

Patamon turned his head from side to side to look at his sleeping audience, before looking back at the other children who had entered during the story. He blushed slightly, but they didn't say anything to him. Agumon walked closer to him and whispered quietly so as to not disturb Jade and TK.

"I didn't know that you knew that story," he whispered.

"I heard it a long time ago," Patamon admitted. "It stuck with me, I guess."

"It was a good story, well done."

"Thanks."

"Now rest, of we climb Infinity Mountain tomorrow we're going to need all our strength."

Patamon nodded and settled down to sleep. He looked at the sleeping children on either side of him once more, confident that they were sleeping peacefully. Silence fell over the cave, save for the gentle breathing of human and digimon alike.

At some time in the night Jade woke up from a strange dream, one where she was flying over the land on the back on an angel. He was explaining to her how his subjects lived, and that one day she would take his place. She didn't really understand that, so upon awakening she was confused. She looked around the cave and spotted Joe moving around. Making sure that she didn't disturb TK and Patamon, she crept after Joe. He was scratching a note in the dirt, before straightening and walking off in the direction of Infinity Mountain.

"Joe!" Jade called quietly, running lightly after him. "Where are you going?"

"Jade?" Joe stated, turning to look at her. "Go back to the cave, it's way too cold out here."

"Where are you going? Why are you going alone?"

"Jade," Joe sighed. Jade grabbed his arm and stared up at him worriedly. "It's too dangerous for everyone to climb the mountain, so I'm going to do it. If it's safe I'll come back and grab everyone."

"But what if it's not safe?"

"It will be," Joe promised.

"When will you be back?"

"Morning I suppose."

"And if you're not?"

"Afternoon, then."

"What do I tell the others?"

"Nothing, or say you don't know."

Jade looked at him with her eyebrows raised. Lie? She had never lied in her life and she wouldn't start now. Joe grinned sheepishly, not having considered what he was asking her.

"Tell them where I am, and that I asked you not to say anything," Joe amended. "Now go back to sleep."

Jade nodded and watched as Joe continued onwards. She waited until he was out of sight before darting back into the caves and waking Gomamon. The little digimon blinked at her sleepily, but she shushed him and carried him outside so they could talk without disturbing the others.

"What's wrong Jade?"

"Joe went up the mountain alone," Jade explained. "Please hurry after him. He's going to get hurt without anyone else up there to help him."

"Don't worry Jade, I'll protect him."

Gomamon scurried away quickly, and Jade returned to the caves. The night air was cold and she could see her breath in front of her. She briefly considered staying up to watch for their return, but she was tired. She returned to where TK and Patamon were still sleeping, and curled up under her blanket with them. Maybe she would be able to sleep without any more dreams.

* * *

"Mmm, I sure slept well," Sora yawned as the sun rose over the horizon. Jade blinked at the sudden noise, and sat up rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. As her eyes cleared she looked around to see if Joe had returned, and frowned when she realised he hadn't. Sora looked around the cave, smiling at Jade when she saw that the girl was awake, but then frowning when she couldn't see Joe or Gomamon anywhere.

"I wonder where Sleepy Joe is," Sora mumbled, standing up and walking outside. Jade heard her calling out for Joe, and decided that it was time for the others to wake. She pulled the blanket from TK and Patamon, ignoring their mumbles of displeasure, and returned the blanket to her bag. She walked out behind Sora in time to hear her read out Joe's message in the dirt.

"'I'll be back in a little while please wait for me, Joe'. He wouldn't be climbing that mountain by himself, would he?" Sora turned to Jade with wide eyes. Jade nodded slowly and yawned. Sora ran back into the cave. "Everybody wake up! We have an emergency!"

Jade stared up at the mountain, wondering where Joe was. He was more than likely already near the top of Infinity Mountain, so to get to him quickly the digimon would need to digivolve and run, or in the case of Kabuterimon and Birdramon, fly. She hoped they were alright, for if they weren't she knew that she would feel guilty about it. Tai stumbled out of the cave, his eyes reading over the short note as he combed his fingers through his hair.

"Joe…what are you doing?" he asked himself. "Agumon, come on, we've got to go."

"We're not having breakfast?" Agumon asked sleepily.

"No, Joe's in trouble. We can eat later."

"Talk later Tai!" Sora ordered as she came out of the cave, Biyomon by her side. "Digivolve now Biyomon, we have to get up that mountain!"

"Right," Biyomon agreed. "Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"

Jade felt Biyomon's love for Sora grow as she digivolved, before the giant bird hovered in front of the cave. The other children came out as well, most of them still yawning. When they were all outside Sora once again started to give out orders.

"Tai and I will go ahead to help out Joe. The rest of you follow as soon as you can. Kabuterimon and Garurumon should be able to get up fairly quickly. Come on Tai, Agumon, let's go."

Tai nodded and grabbed a hold of Birdramon's foot and made sure that Agumon was secure before looking to Sora. She nodded and they disappeared up into the sky. Jade watched as they disappeared before she turned to look at the others and tilted her head to the side in question.

"Well, what are we standing around here for?" Matt asked. "Gabumon, digivolve and we can go after them. Tentomon, you should digivolve as well. Half will go with me and the rest will go with Izzy."

"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"

The two digimon digivolved into their Champion forms and they prepared to leave. On Kabuterimon were Izzy, Mimi and Palmon. They would be flying by air, but still keeping close to Garurumon to provide cover if there were other digimon or Black Gears around. Garurumon had Matt, TK, Patamon, and Jade. TK and Jade were sitting in front of Matt where he could make sure they wouldn't fall off, and once everyone was comfortable they took off at a run.

They were required to follow the same path Joe took due to accessibility, whereas Birdramon took the shortest route so as to provide assistance.

"Do you think Joe's ok?" TK asked as they started to ascend.

"He's fine," Matt replied instantly. "Tai and Sora are probably with him now, telling him that he was an idiot for going on his own."

"But Gomamon was with him," TK added defensively.

"Regardless, we should have gone together. We're a team. I don't like it when we all spilt up. Who knows what could happen if we were alone with no one around to provide help?"

Jade looked down guiltily. She knew she should have woken someone other than Gomamon, and she even went back to sleep afterwards. If anything happened to Joe it would be her fault for not waking anyone. She felt Garurumon's concern, and she figured that it was due to her silence and her sigh of worry. She rubbed his fur gently, and looked ahead to see if she could spot anyone.

If she squinted she could see bits of the mountain exploding, and bright flashes of light that signified attacks from whoever was up on the mountain. She hoped no one was hurt. She clasped her hands together and wished with all her might that her friends would be safe. The presence of a Black Gear reached the edges of her senses, so she pushed with all her might to have it destroyed. Her eyes clenched shut in concentration, and she could feel another helping her. The Black Gear shattered and she swayed at the sudden lack of darkness.

"Jade!" TK shouted, his arms wrapping around her from behind. Matt echoed the cry and helped hold onto her as well.

"What happened? Jade, what's wrong?" Matt asked with worry. Kabuterimon flew closer to the ground having seen that something was wrong.

"What happened?" Izzy asked in concern.

"I don't know!" Matt called up. "Jade just became real weak all of a sudden!"

"They're just over the ridge," Izzy told them. "We'll come down so we can walk up together."

Matt nodded, and after Garurumon stopped they all got off, with Matt supporting Jade. Once they were all down Jade attempted to wave away their concern. She was feeling better, but she told herself not to do something over a long distance again, it took more out of her than she realised.

"I'm fine," Jade protested. "I can walk on my own."

"What happened, Jade?" Mimi asked curiously.

"The Black Gear was really cold, so I was pushing it away, but I should have waited until we were closer because I felt dizzy after it was gone. It was too far away."

"Pushed it away?" TK repeated. "What does that mean?"

"I don't like the Black Gears," Jade explained. "They make me feel cold, so I push the cold away and I feel better afterwards."

"You can feel the Black Gears?" Izzy asked. "I wonder…"

"Come on, let's catch up to the others," Matt suggested. "Maybe they know something."

The small group nodded and followed Matt, though the older boy insisted on keeping Jade by his side in case she collapsed again. When Tai, Sora, Joe and their digimon came into sight, Jade broke free from the group and ran towards them. Joe was sitting on his knees looking fairly despondent, and the others were staring impassively at the unobstructed view of the island. Tai smiled as she approached, his arm going around her shoulders, and he nodded towards Matt, TK, Mimi and Izzy as they approached.

"We're doomed," Joe was muttering. "Trapped on an island, we'll never get out of here alive. I knew I wouldn't like camp, but would my folks listen to me? No! I wanted to go to summer school!"

Jade giggled at his little monologue and looked towards Gomamon. She stepped away from Tai and knelt next to Gomamon so that she was closer to the ground. The little digimon looked up at her with his head on the side. He asked her what she was grinning about.

"Did you digivolve?" she asked. Gomamon grinned happily.

"Yep! I digivolved into Ikkakumon."

Jade congratulated him, before looking up at Tai and grinning. Once the others joined them they decided that they would have breakfast, and the digimon went off to forage. There was still some fruit in Joe's bag, so they divided that amongst each other. Matt cornered Tai, Joe and Sora and told them briefly of what had happened on the way up, and all four of them looked over to Jade who was playing with Gomamon.

"So she can sense the Black Gears," Joe murmured. "The cold that she refers to, it could be centred on her heart. We should watch for when it happens again, see if the two incidents connect."

"I agree, but feeling weak after? Do you think that something about her helps the digimon to destroy the Black Gears?" Tai asked.

"I definitely felt something when I was on Unimon's back," Joe said. "The Black Gear grew warm underneath my hands, and it's why I let go actually. It was quite a shock. It was destroyed a little later. This is very confusing."

The others nodded, but no more was said on the matter. Sora and Matt went off to eat, Joe went to check on Gomamon, and Tai went off to sit near the edge of the cliff with a sketchbook and pencil that he had borrowed from Mimi. It seemed that Mimi had everything in her bag except for food.

"What are you doing Tai?" Agumon asked after he had come back from hunting for something to eat. Tai looked up at his partner, and then across at Jade who had dropped down next to him and was swinging her legs innocently over the side. Gomamon was with Joe and eating what food he was being offered, so Jade wanted to check on Tai.

"Making a map of the island," Tai replied. "That way we'll know exactly where we are and where we've already been. Be careful Jade, I don't know how sturdy this bit of the mountain is. You wouldn't want to fall off."

Jade crinkled her nose but made no effort to move backwards. Izzy, having overheard the first part of Tai's statement walked over with Tentomon flying behind him.

"Yes, that works in theory," Izzy looked over Tai's shoulder and his eyes widened. "What? Did you say map or mess?"

Jade looked over as well and grinned as she saw the state of Tai's map. To just about everyone else it looked like something a child had drawn, but Jade could figure out what each scribble meant by staring at it and then at the land before them. All told it was an accurate representation of how Tai's mind worked, and what he saw as important when map drawing. He would never be an artist, but he had most of the major landmarks documented…even if none of the other children could figure out what it was.

"No question man, you are the dude of doodles!" Matt observed. He and Sora had walked over curiously and Jade physically restrained herself from laughing.

"If you follow that map it'll lead right to a headache," Sora added.

"Well I can read it just fine and that's all that's really important," Tai told them. Jade's smile slipped off her face having recognised the hurt in his tone. She put her hand on his knee briefly before pulling the map towards her. Tai allowed it, no longer feeling like drawing. Jade borrowed the pencil and decided that she would put down a compass so that they would know which way was north. Then she put a happy face next to the drawing and returned it to Tai with a grin.

"Thanks Jade," he whispered. "It's not that bad is it?"

"As long as you can read it, that's all that matters," she said. "Who cares if they can't think outside the box? We'll know where we are at least."

Tai grinned and stood up, pulling Jade with him as he did so. A growl coming from back down the path interrupted them, and Jade looked around curiously to see what it was. The other children followed her gaze, and as soon as it got closer Jade shivered. This digimon was infected with more than one Black Gear.

"What's that?" Matt asked.

"I don't know," Joe replied. "But I have a feeling we're going to wait here to find out."

"At least it won't be a long wait," Sora told him. Coming up the path to them was what appeared to be a giant lion, which stood as a man would on his hindquarters. His eyes were red, and that more than anything scared Jade, though she couldn't think of why. The digimon wore pants, and on his back attached to his belt was a sword. He looked very dangerous.

"Don't worry," Patamon told them all. "That's Leomon. He's our friend."

"With big teeth," TK added nervously.

"He just uses them for smiling," Patamon continued. Jade imagined that that had been true in the past, but at the moment he was not himself.

"He's a just leader and a role model for all digimon," Gabumon added admiringly.

"I think we should run," Jade whispered to Tai. "Leomon is not himself."

Tai looked down at Jade in confusion, and seeing her pale face asked a question that was just audible to the children.

"Black Gear?"

"More than one," Jade replied, shivering. "I don't want to be here."

"I want the children," Leomon stated, his voice possessing a dangerous growl. After that sentence, and hearing Jade talk about the Black Gear, the children decided to run, though it could have been the fact that Leomon had pulled his sword from its sheath and prepared to charge after them.

As they were running Tai's map slipped from his pocket. He stopped with the intention of grabbing it again, but Leomon was too close. Agumon let out a fireball at Leomon, burning the map accidently, but Tai was able to continue running without any damage.

"Don't slow down Joe, he's right behind us!" Matt ordered from near the back of the group. Joe was leading all of them, and Jade ended up right behind him after Tai had stopped for his map. However, another digimon, this one green and scary looking, appeared at the other end of the path.

"And just where do you think you're going?" the green digimon asked. The children crashed to a stop, literally in Jade's case as she hadn't been looking forward as she ran, but back to make sure Tai was still with them. She tripped over Joe and rolled to a stop just in front of the green digimon.

"Well children, so good of you to stop by."

"He look hungry to you?" Patamon asked.

"We're too small to eat!" TK protested. "And I'm full of junk food!"

"Well he's not against a little snack," Gomamon told him.

"Jade! Get away from there!" Tai cried. Jade looked up from where she was still sitting on the ground. She rubbed her head from where she smacked it against the ground, and took a deep breath. The green digimon seemed to know what she was about to do and lifted his wicked looking club to hit her. He was too slow, for as soon as he started to lift his club, Jade screamed as loud as she could.

Ogremon, the green digimon, recoiled from the high pitch. Hands from behind her lifted her from the ground and pulled her back to the children, and she stopped screaming when she recognised Joe.

"Thank you, Joe," she whispered.

"You're welcome" Joe replied. "Maybe you should start working on stopping, or even watching where you are going."

Jade nodded with a little grin. As they returned to the group it was to Leomon cut off their retreat. They were now caught between a cliff face on one side, and a long drop on the other. There was nowhere to escape.

"Make it easy on yourselves," Leomon told them. "Give up now, or else!"

"I don't see an exit door," Matt told them all uneasily.

"This proves that theory that well executed teamwork is efficient even for bad guys," Izzy added.

"But Leomon has always been Ogremon's worst enemy," Biyomon protested. "What's happened to him?"

"He has more than one Black Gear in him," Jade told the digimon from where she was still in Joe's arms. "It's really strong and dark. I can't fight it."

"But we can," Agumon told her. "Ready everyone?"

As Leomon and Ogremon leapt towards the children the digimon nodded and digivolved. Jade sighed as the love from the digivolutions pushed back the darkness just a little bit so that she could breathe.

"Agumon digivolve to – Greymon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"

Palmon digivolve to – Togemon!"

Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"

"Gomamon digivolve to – Ikkakumon!"

Greymon, Garurumon and Togemon leapt towards Leomon, pushing him away, while Birdramon, Kabuterimon and Ikkakumon went to the other way towards Ogremon. Patamon remained in TK's arms, having not learnt how to digivolve just yet to the next level, but with the six champions there was no need for him to do so.

TK and Jade were moved to the middle of the group, and they watched as the six champions pushed back their enemies quickly and effectively. TK had one of his arms around Jade's shoulders, but both their eyes were watching the fight…until the rocks above them broke free from the mountain and fell down onto them.

Jade stared up at the falling rocks, and just before they obscured her vision she saw a dark figure with red eyes, staring down at her with curiosity and anticipation. She trembled as fear swept over her. That digimon was one they would need to watch out for.

"Is everybody okay?" Tai asked, brushing the rubble from his hair.

"Oh yeah," Matt replied sarcastically. "Like a day at the beach."

"I think I need a facial," Mimi moaned.

The digivolved digimon protected them from the falling rocks before returning to their Rookie forms due to exhaustion. The children all ran to their partners, asking what was wrong with them. Jade pushed away TK's supporting arm, stronger now that Leomon was gone. She looked around and noticed that Ogremon had scampered away as well.

"Ogremon and Leomon are gone," she said after everyone finished checking on the partners. They looked around, noticing that they were alone for the first time.

"Do you think the avalanche knocked them off the cliff?" Gabumon asked.

"Hello?" Joe called, looking over the edge of the mountain, his voice echoing as he called for the two evil digimon, making sure that they were still alive. "Unless they can fly they're goners."

Jade rolled her eyes at his actions and mumbled to TK who was still next to her.

"Because I would answer if my enemy was asking if I was still alive."

TK giggled but otherwise made no indication that she had said anything. He walked over to Matt and Gabumon, making sure that they were alright, while Jade walked over to Tai. Behind the two young ones, Sora and Joe continued to talk.

"Neither one of them had wings," Sora told Joe. "So I'm sure they weren't airworthy."

"Nothing is logical here," Joe replied. "Anything is bound to happen, including flying monsters."

"For once, you might be right Joe."

"Something bothering you, Tai?" Agumon asked once Jade was in earshot.

"It's that avalanche, I can't figure out what set it off," Tai explained. Izzy turned from where he and Tentomon were standing and replied with a scientific explanation.

"Stress accumulates until a crack develops and with excess weight the terra firma suddenly isn't so firma."

"You think so?" Tai asked as they started to walk again. "It looked to me like something blasted it loose."

Jade looked up at Tai at that. The boy surprised her a little more each day. She hadn't thought anyone else would have seen that. She didn't say anything though, because she wasn't quite sure what she herself had seen. She resolved to figure it out before saying anything to the others…that and she really wanted to get off Infinity Mountain.

* * *

After stopping briefly around lunch time, the children and digimon once again disappeared into the forest surrounding Infinity Mountain. It was liberating for all of them to escape the sun's burning rays and more than one person sighed in relief. Jade had picked up Gomamon at some stage after lunch and was carrying him on her head. The little digimon had dozed off so Jade attempted to smooth out her walk so as to not disturb him or accidently throw him off. At the back of the group, no one really paid much attention to what she was doing, though Agumon kept looking back to make sure that she was still with them.

"I'm intrigued that our digimon were able to digivolve twice in one day," Izzy stated after a long period of silence. It had obviously been bothering the boy for a while and wanted to get a second opinion on his thoughts.

"Well, it was sure lucky for us that they were able to do it," Tai told him.

"I think the digimon are growing stronger," Sora said, turning slightly so that she could look at everyone else. "I wonder if that's a normal part of their evolution or if we're bringing out something special in them?"

"A fascinating hypothesis," Izzy considered. "If only we could test it."

"I think today was too much for them," Matt added, looking at the almost sleepwalking digimon.

"Palmon's looking very tired," Mimi agreed.

"I've been tired before," Palmon mumbled. "Don't worry about me."

"Admit it Palmon, we need to stop and rest," Biyomon scolded.

"You know, to be perfectly honest," Joe began. "I think that would be a good idea for all of us."

"Rest where?" Sora asked. "I don't want to sleep on the ground."

"Look! A mansion!" Joe suddenly exclaimed, pointing through the trees. Jade turned slowly, intrigued at the thought of a mansion in the middle of nowhere.

"Maybe it's a hotel!" Tai stated hopefully. "Come on guys! Jade, hurry up or you'll get left behind!"

"We may have found other life forms!" Izzy cried excitedly as they started to run towards the building. "Look at the grounds; I mean, someone had to have mown the lawns."

Jade brought up the rear, but she really didn't want to go into the building. She slowed to a walk, but still continued to move towards the others. As she moved she gently pulled Gomamon from her head to hold in her arms. He had a higher chance of falling off if she ran with him on her head.

"What a place! I can't believe my eyes!" Tai continued. "It's just too good to be true!"

"I hope they have a hot tub," Joe wished. "Just, as long as it's not too hot."

"Wait you guys! Don't just go charging in there!" Tai called in concern as Matt and Joe sprinted to the front door. "It might be dangerous!"

"Was this on your map?" Agumon asked Tai. Jade pulled up aside the two and looked up at Tai curiously.

"Somehow I don't think so," he replied.

"This place should be on your map," Agumon insisted.

"Agumon, if you recall, you burnt up my map."

"Oh, yeah," Agumon muttered. Jade giggled at the sheepish expression on the dinosaur's face. They started to walk after the group who had continued even though Tai and Jade had stopped. Jade searched back through her memory, focusing on Tai's map. She couldn't recall seeing a mansion amongst his scribbles, even though a mansion would have been something important enough to be included.

"I don't like this," she whispered.

"Me neither," Tai added, also in a whisper as their digimon went ahead to join the others. "But I know I'm not the only one who would like to sleep in a bed tonight. It's just too tempting to ignore."

"What if it's a trap?" Jade asked, grabbing Tai's hand desperately. "We'd all be walking right into it without any regard to our safety."

"We'll stay on our guard," Tai promised. "But if we were to get involved in a fight now we'd lose because everyone is exhausted and tired. Come on, we should stay as a group."

Jade bit her lip and nodded. She allowed Tai to drag her forwards and through the front door of the mansion. They entered just after TK and Patamon, and Jade couldn't help but shiver when she saw what had captured TK's attention.

"Whoa! That's beautiful!"

The others turned to look at the portrait and several of them echoed TK's sentiments. The portrait was of a blonde angel facing away, looking up the back left of the portrait with her hands reaching out as if asking for something. The colours were in warm reds and whites, looking very innocent and welcoming in the entrance room as it was.

"It's an angel," TK continued.

"What's an angel TK?" Patamon asked curiously, staring up at the portrait with questioning eyes. Jade shivered, there was something about it that disturbed her.

"Something special that watches over you," TK explained. "Kind of like you guys!"

"Do you think it could be a picture of the Sovereign?" Mimi asked curiously.

"I don't know," Patamon told her. "I've always heard that the Sovereign had wings of fire, and some say she had a staff that harnessed the power of truth."

"What does that mean?" TK asked.

"I don't know. I heard it somewhere."

"If this is a spooked out, haunted house, would there be pictures of angels hanging on the walls?" Joe asked earnestly. "I don't think so!"

"If I was an evil warlord I'd put pictures of angels, and puppies, and unicorns inside a house to make my prey lower their guard," Jade said quietly to herself, though no one paid attention to her. "Expect the unexpected. I don't like it here."

"Relax, we just want to be careful," Sora told Joe. "And talk quieter or you'll wake everybody up."

"They're out like a light," Matt added, looking down at the digimon who gotten as far as a few metres inside the building before falling asleep, still standing upright. Jade still had Gomamon in her arms, but he woke up briefly when Agumon and Gabumon announced that they could smell food. Jade allowed Gomamon to hop onto the floor so that he could follow the digimon, but she still couldn't smell anything.

Regardless she followed everyone as they sprinted away, and by the time she made it to where they ended up, the digimon were stuffing their faces and Joe was making a pig of himself. Even standing right next to the food, Jade couldn't smell any of it despite seeing the steam signifying that the food was hot. She tilted her head to the side, unwilling to enter the room, but Tai spotted her and pulled her over to a spare seat.

Jade cautiously bit into a piece of fruit that was in front of her. Her eyes widened and she barely restrained from spitting the food out. It tasted like ash in her mouth, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to eat any of it. She couldn't figure out how the others were managing to eat and not gag. She looked up at the others around her, and after seeing that they were all preoccupied with what they were eating, she snuck away from the table and decided to explore the building. No one saw her go, too interested in eating everything in sight.

She walked around the mansion without making a sound. There was something dark about it, but she couldn't sense any Black Gears. There was something else that was causing her to feel strange. She found a bathroom, and that at least felt warm though she had no intention of going in without anyone else. Further down she found the bathrooms, and there was even a bedroom with eight beds exactly. She sat on the balcony of the second floor, waiting for the other children to finish stuffing their faces.

"Hey Jade! Where'd you go? Weren't you hungry?"

Jade looked down and saw that Agumon had been the first to leave the dining hall. She shook her head and swung back around so that she was on the right side of the balcony. She stood at the top of the stairs and waved the others up to her.

"There's a hot bath in this room here, but there's a screen in the middle so that the girls can swim on one side and the boys can swim on the other," she explained. "And then the bedroom is over there, one bed for each of us."

"A hot bath," Mimi squealed, eyes shining in excitement. "Come on Sora, let's get in. I can't wait!"

Jade was grabbed as Mimi ran passed her, and she and Sora got undressed on the far side of the bath where the boys wouldn't be able to see them. Jade folded her clothes neatly before sliding into the water after Sora. The water was quite a bit deeper than it looked, so she grabbed onto Sora in fear as she went under. Sora smiled as she held her above the water.

"I got you," she promised. "Relax over here. I think this is the shallow part where we can sit."

Sora moved across the pool to where the water was shallow and sat down. Jade knelt on her knees to keep her head above the water, but eventually she relaxed and let her hair float in the water behind her. Mimi brought over a brush so then Jade enjoyed the feeling of someone brushing her hair in the water. It was great, and she was almost able to forget that the mansion was wrong.

"Why do boys have to be so noisy?" Sora asked, looking in the direction of the boys' bath. They were laughing and joking around, whereas the girls weren't making much noise at all.

"Relax," Mimi ordered as she put down the brush. "Forget about them."

"I've never been so relaxed in my whole life," Gomamon informed them. Mimi, Sora, Palmon and Biyomon all shrieked in horror at seeing him.

"Gomamon, you're not supposed to be over here!" Biyomon scolded him.

"Get back to the boys' side!" Palmon ordered, before using her vines to throw him over the wall. Jade giggled at Gomamon's protests, and then at the complaints from the boys who Gomamon had landed on. Mimi and Sora grumbled about how inconsiderate boys were, but that just made Jade giggle louder. She found a nice spot next to Sora, and rested her head against her shoulder, eyes falling shut peacefully. Baths were nice.

"Looks like someone needs to be in bed," Sora whispered to Mimi.

"She's so cute," Mimi whispered back. "I just want to take her home with me."

"Let's get out so that she can rest in a proper bed," Sora suggested. Mimi agreed and together the two of them got Jade out of the bath and into a bath robe. Sora grabbed their clothes and bags, and Mimi dried jade's hair with a towel before brushing it again, and then they made their way to the bedroom. Opening the door into the room caused gasps of shock, as each bed was queen sized and looked very soft. Jade ended up on the bed between Joe and Sora, and she burrowed deep under the covers instantly. Around her the others excitedly got ready for bed.

"The only thing better is bunk beds!" TK announced.

"Boy, this feels great," Izzy praised. "Last time I had a bed this soft I was dreaming."

"How I've missed sleeping on soft silky sheets," Mimi told everyone, already under her covers with Palmon tucked in next to her.

"I'll tell you what I don't miss," Joe started. "I don't miss hiking through the blazing hot desert. And another thing I really don't miss is starving in the jungle. Oh, we are a long way from home."

The children all looked upset, thinking about their homes again. Jade peeked out of her sheets at the sudden silence, before shrugging and disappearing again. She didn't really want to go home, she had never had this much fun before.

"Sorry," Joe apologised for making them all melancholy.

"That's okay Joe," Tai forgave. "We all miss being home. And I'm sure we're all wondering if we'll ever get back there."

"I bet our disappearance caused a big fuss at school," Matt stated. "And all over town, but we've been gone so long, everybody must have given up looking for us by now."

"Mom and dad wouldn't stop," TK muttered.

"I'm homesick," Mimi shared. "Aren't you?"

"We'll find our way back," Sora said optimistically. "Don't worry Mimi."

"Let's just go to sleep and try to have nice dreams," Mimi suggested.

Everyone agreed with that and after passing out good night wishes, the children drifted off to sleep. Jade tossed a little in the beginning, she knew that there was something dark coming for them…and she didn't know if they were strong enough to survive it.

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 7: Seperation and Devimon_**


	7. Devimon and Separation

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Jade Potter is a lonely girl from England who just happens to have a dark and secretive past. When she goes to Japan as part of a school assignment, she and seven other children are summoned to a strange world, where not all is as it seems. Just what is the Digital World, and how will everyone get back home again? Will they want to? And who exactly is Jade?_

Chapter 7: Devimon and Separation

* * *

Jade woke up in the dark, and only the sound of everyone sleeping soundly kept her calm. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, and sat up to look around. Something had changed while she slept, and not wanting to disturb anyone she quietly got out of bed and walked outside the bedroom. Her feet didn't make a sound as she moved from the bedroom to the main room. She turned left with the intention of heading downstairs, but before she could go too far the painting of the angel rippled.

From the painting appeared a dark digimon who was humanoid in appearance, but looked closer to something created from the underworld. His wings stretched out as he landed on his feet, and his arms hung past his knees. Two devil horns shot out from the side of his head. Jade clapped a hand over her mouth and hid behind the railings. Her clothes were still in the room, and she wished that she had at least put her shirt back on. Instead she was just wearing a singlet and her shorts.

As the dark digimon stood up straight, Ogremon and Leomon walked into the room to join him. Jade knew that she couldn't leave without attracting attention, and even if she could have gone, she was completely frozen by the darkness below her.

"Ready?" the dark digimon asked.

"What a joy to be rid of the digidestined at last," Ogremon replied.

"And you, Leomon?" asked the dark digimon.

"I cannot disobey your orders," Leomon replied. The dark digimon laughed in satisfaction, and Jade shivered more. When he stopped and looked up the bedroom, Jade first thought she had been spotted, but then she heard Tai and Agumon making a move to the bathroom. The dark digimon leapt up and away, while Leomon made his way to the second floor and Ogremon went to meet Tai and Agumon in the bathroom. Jade stood to warn them, but before she could make a sound a cold hand wrapped around her head from behind and yanked her away.

Tai and Agumon walked to the bathroom without noticing anything different, and Jade struggled in the dark digimon's hold. His hand was so big that he only needed the one to cover her mouth and lift her from the ground. She was being held against his chest, but as soon as Tai and Agumon were in the bathroom, the dark digimon leapt onto the railing and held her out as if to drop her. Jade instantly stopped struggling.

"Hello, child," the digimon greeted, evil dripping from his voice. "You are not one of the digidestined, yet you travel with them…why?"

He turned Jade slightly, though he didn't remove his hand to let her speak. He stared into her eyes, and she stared back with fear. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he gasped.

"It cannot be…" he breathed in horror. "No, you died…"

Now Jade was puzzled. What was this digimon talking about now? There was a scream from the bathroom and Tai and Agumon ran from it screaming.

"Wake up everybody! Ogremon is here!" Tai was screaming. He and Agumon almost ran right into Leomon, who was standing at the end of the hall waiting for them.

"I must obey," Leomon rumbled. "Destroy them, the children."

"Why do you hate me?" Tai asked.

"He hates you because I commanded him to hate you," the dark digimon called. Tai and Agumon turned, and Tai gasped in horror when he saw that Jade was captive.

"Get ready Tai," Agumon warned. "Now the real trouble starts."

"Agumon, who is that?"

"That's Devimon," Agumon replied. "This is the guy who invented the nightmare."

Jade kicked her legs a little. Her hands were wrapped around Devimon's fingers to relieve the pressure on her neck, but Devimon showed no indication of letting her go. Devimon looked once at her, before returning his attention to the two opposite him and grinning.

"I have no further use for this imaginary building," he said. The building around them dissolved, and if Jade hadn't already been silenced she would have screamed in shock. As it was she started in Devimon's grip and shivered in fear. Devimon then turned his attention to the former bedroom, and lifting his free hand sent out a wave of darkness. The beds in the room were lifted from the ground, and all the children still in the beds screamed. Jade watched in horror, hoping that none of them fell.

"Because together you are strong," Devimon stated. "I will use my Touch of Evil to scatter you throughout the Digital World!"

"I hope this is a bad dream," Tai wished, watching the revolving beds.

"Tai, I'm too weak to walk," Agumon told him, startling Tai. "Even after all that food I've eaten."

"The food, the bath, the building…none of it was real," Devimon explained. Jade made a sound of understanding, she had wondered why she couldn't smell the food that everyone else had. It not being real solved her dilemma. "I created all of it from your imagination."

"Listen you!" Tai threatened, pointing at Devimon. "If you don't bring back my friends and put Jade down, you're going to be in really big trouble!"

"That's amusing," Devimon told him. "My concerns are much more important than your friends. And this one intrigues me. She alone was not swayed by my illusions."

"My friends are my only concern!" Tai replied. "You bring them back now!"

"Bring them back? You impudent brat! You dare to order me! Allow me to show you who's really in control here!"

Jade was flung behind Devimon, where she sat on the floor taking deep breaths. Devimon now raised both his hands, and sent a wave of darkness into the ground. And earthquake knocked them all off balance, and Jade cried out as the sense of dozens of Black Gears overwhelmed her. She heard Tai calling out for her, but she just held her head and curled up into a ball.

"You see, I have discovered the secrets of the Black Gears from below," Devimon explained, ignoring Jade whimpering behind him. "I call them forth to do my bidding!"

The earth shook more, and Jade forced herself to look up in time to see the very land they were on fracture into many different islands, each heading out to sea in different directions. Devimon was destroying the island.

"You and your friends happened upon this tiny island," Devimon continued. "Which is just one of the fragments of the old world, scattered across an enormous ocean. You pretend you are strangers who know nothing of this, but I am aware that you are the digidestined, who have been sent to rescue this world from my domination!"

"You got us all wrong!" Tai cried. "We were just some kids at summer camp who somehow got sucked into your world!"

"Your little act no longer amuses me," Devimon told him. "It's time to bring an end to the digidestined!"

"I will destroy them," Leomon promised in a monotone. Jade forced the darkness away from her, and crawled forward so that she could see Tai better. Leomon was right in front of him, and with Agumon weak from hunger and exhaustion, there was no hope. Agumon tried to fight, but his _pepper breath_ was weak and dissipated before if even left his mouth. Leomon's attack however, pushed him away with ease.

"Now the boy," Leomon said. Jade watched in horror.

"Yes, then the others, one by one," Devimon agreed. "Once the irritating children are out of the way, nothing will be able to stop me! Now, do it Leomon!"

"As you command," Leomon stated. Jade felt desperate. She had to do something, but what? Energy blossomed within her, and suddenly she knew what to do. Her eyes went up to the beds still revolving in the air. She heard Tai scream out for help, and in a move too quick for Devimon to prevent Jade wrapped her energy around Tai's bed and threw it to the ground. Tai's digivice bounced from the bed and crashed into Leomon's foot.

Light erupted from the digivice, but it was different to when the digimon digivolved, this light was golden, and it caused Leomon pain. Jade focused her energy with the digivice and the darkness that was controlling Leomon disappeared. Jade smiled but Devimon was furious. He lifted her back into the air and shook her in anger.

"Stupid girl!" he barked at her. "Do you know what you have done?!"

"You will not win!" Jade told him.

"I have been freed from Devimon's powers!" Leomon cried, with far more genuine emotion in his voice this time. Tai picked up his digivice, and turned his attention to where Jade was still being held.

"Put her down Devimon!" he ordered.

"I would rather see her dead," Devimon barked back. He lifted a free hand towards the remaining beds in the air and cancelled the power he had on them. They started to fall, but Leomon interrupted his concentration long enough for Jade to wrap them in her own power and prevent them from falling. Her eyes were glowing again, and the bright green frightened Devimon.

Devimon flew up, Jade still in his grip. She fought to get free, and maintain a protective hold on the beds. Her energy was draining fast; she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. An idea popped into her head. They couldn't remain on this fragment of the island, but the other fragments would be safe for them. If they could figure out how to disrupt the flow of energy, and reverse it, they would be able to get back to the main island. Decided, Jade thrust out her energy and the beds scattered in all directions.

"NO!" Devimon roared. "You insufferable child!"

"Leomon, get Tai away from here!" Jade screamed down to the lion digimon. "Do it now!"

Leomon didn't even consider disobeying her order, and thrusting his sword down into the ground, the ledge Tai and Agumon were on dropped into the ocean. Devimon roared in anger, but was unable to gather them all back. His anger was painful to Jade, and she screamed. Devimon used his anger to take control of Leomon again, and stood watching the children disappear. Leomon and Ogremon stood behind him, ready to obey him.

On the wind Jade heard Tai call out for her, but she was unable to answer. She was just happy that he was safely away.

"The digidestined survived our first encounter," Devimon growled. "But it won't be the last, I can promise them that. They must not interfere with my plans! They must be destroyed! Will you do this for me Leomon?"

"Your every order, I will obey," Leomon promised. Jade looked at him sadly. He had many more Black Gears in time now, and it chilled her to be so close to both him and Devimon at the same time. Devimon looked at her, still in his grasp.

"It seems that even in this weak form your powers are formidable," he told her. "I will not allow you to destroy everything that I have worked for, not now. You must be destroyed."

Jade shivered, staring up at him with a mixture of fear, and defiance. He glared at her, before throwing her further inland, away from the ocean. He stared down at her as she struggled to her knees, and then to her feet. Devimon considered her for a long moment, before smiling.

"Since darkness hurts you more than anything, I know exactly what to do," he said. "Feel my: _Touch of Evil_!"

Jade screamed as the darkness wrapped around her. She fought, and struggled, but it was way too much. She screamed herself hoarse, desperately wishing for someone to save her. In the back of her mind she could hear bells ringing, and she managed to look at Devimon one last time before darkness took her.

Everything went cold, and then there was nothing.

* * *

Devimon sat in his castle on top of Infinity Mountain. The little girl had surprised him, he had thought her dead a long time ago, before he had even considered taking over first File Island, and then the world. He remembered her though. She had great power unlike anything he had ever seen. He had been one of the few to see her die and would treasure that moment for the rest of his life.

But then she had returned. Why? Why would she come back after all these years? Why not sooner? He scowled and clenched his hands tighter together. The stupid little girl linked to the Sovereign was back in the Digital World, and now the Sovereign was awake. He would need to act quickly to take over the Digital World before she could create an army to take him down.

"Now that they're on their own those little intruders will meet their doom," he muttered angrily. "Nothing can stand in my way! The digidestined and the Sovereign don't stand a chance! Now, fly my Black Gears! Fly!"

The Black Gears took off rapidly, spreading to all the File Island Fragments, infecting them with evil and darkness. The Sovereign would be far too busy destroying them to worry about him and his masterful plan.

He only wished that he had killed the girl before the stupid angel appeared.

* * *

Tai was angry at himself. He and Agumon were currently running from Frigimon, a digimon who looked a lot like a giant snowman. Frigimon had a Black Gear sticking out of his back, but since Agumon was too weak to digivolve they were unable to fight back properly. Instead they were running, and now they were trapped against an ice cliff. Tai wished that he was with the others, for then at least they would be able to work together to get rid of the Black Gear.

The sound of bells echoed across the snowy plains, and Tai looked up to see where it had come from. Agumon gasped in shock as he saw what had caught Tai's attention, and even Frigimon stopped attacking. High above them, silhouette against the sun, was an angel with wings made of fire. They couldn't see her clearly, but what they could see was the golden sceptre in her right hand, resting on the ground. If Tai squinted, he could see her eyes.

They were bright green.

"Jade?" he breathed. The angel looked at him, and her wings extended as far out as they could go. She brought her staff in front of her, holding it with both hands.

_I will protect you, for Jade_, Tai heard in his mind. His eyes widened and he backed up a step. He knew that voice.

"_Harmonious Flame_!" the angel cried, spinning the staff in front of her to create a path for the flames to follow. Tai watched in awe as the flames engulfed Frigimon and destroyed the Black Gear. As soon as the Gear was destroyed, the flames dispersed and the angel flew up into the sky, and away from the island.

"The Sovereign is back," Frigimon breathed. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Tai looked away from the retreating angel, and looked at Frigimon.

"Are you alright Frigimon?" he asked.

"Yes, I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, we're good," Tai promised. "Hey, have you seen anyone else here, some kids like me?"

"Come to think of it," Frigimon started. "I did see another boy like you. He was with a Gabumon. They fell onto that other island over there."

"You saw Gabumon?" asked Agumon.

"And Matt," Tai added, a smile on his face. As he turned to look the smile fell off his face. "Perfect, Matt would land that far away. It's too cold to swim, and we're drifting at 100 miles a year!"

"You're a weird kid," Frigimon told him. "But since the Sovereign protected you, I know that you are important. I'll help you get across the water. _Sub-zero Ice Punch_!"

Frigimon froze the water just before them, and Tai knew what the giant snowman was going to do. He was going to make them a bridge out of ice. Tai's face lit up, even though the walk was a long way.

"I hope your punches don't freeze up," he told Frigimon.

"Don't worry, as long as it's cold I'm full of punch," Frigimon reassured them.

"What if the ice breaks while we're out there?" Agumon asked. "We'd be Seadramon bait!"

Frigimon dispelled this theory by jumping up and down on the ice bridge. Satisfied that the two trust his ice bridge, Frigimon started to walk further out to create another section to the bridge. Tai and Agumon followed behind him, yet Tai couldn't help but look up to the sky. The Sovereign said that she'd protect them for Jade, did that mean that Jade was dead, and the Sovereign was doing what Jade would be doing if she was still alive? Or was Jade safe on Infinity Mountain and waiting for all of them to come? Or had Jade asked the Sovereign for help?

He didn't know anymore, but he did need to pick up the pace or he'd be left behind.

* * *

Matt felt awful. It was so cold, and his cough wouldn't disappear, and TK was missing. He knew that Gabumon would be angry with him for leaving the cave, but TK was his responsibility, he should be the one looking for him, not Gabumon. He was so weak, if he rested for just a few minutes he would be fine to keep going.

_Silly little human_

The voice echoed gently through his mind, and Matt looked up to see an angel. His first thought was that he had died, but if he had died he probably wouldn't be cold anymore. He reached out to the angel for help.

"T…K," he whispered. "My…brother. Where…is…he?"

_Safer than you little human_, said the voice again. Matt could hear bells, but he was too weak to think on it. His head dropped back into the snow. He was just too tired and cold to move. He wondered where Gabumon was. Voices echoed over his head, though this time there was no meaning to it. He felt warm arms come around him, and Gabumon's voice whispered in his ear, though he had no idea what was being said.

_Rest, little human_, ordered the voice._ The one you call TK is safe_

Matt nodded slightly, and relaxed. Gabumon was with him, and would take care of him. He was sure of it. When he opened his eyes finally, he realised that he was still cold but there was a blanket over him. He sat up when the blanket disappeared and saw Gabumon retreating behind some rocks.

"Gabumon? You …took off your fur, for me," Matt realised. "Thank you."

"It's good to see you're up and feeling – achoo! – better," Gabumon told him.

"Hey! You get me all warm, and now you have my cold! Bet you look pretty funny with no fur on Gabumon! Thanks!"

"No problem, Matt."

"Matt! Gabumon!"

Matt and Gabumon turned to look outside the cave. They easily recognised Tai's voice and Gabumon leapt forward with excitement, sneezing as he did so.

"Matt!"

"Tai!"

The two boys grabbed each other's hands when they were close enough to, the happiness of the reunion clear. It was like they had relaxed slightly, now that they weren't alone anymore.

"We thought we'd never find you!" Tai said happily. "It sure is lucky that we met up with Frigimon."

"Frosty the Snowmon here?" Matt asked.

"Yep, this is him! He happened to see you two fall on this island, and then he got us here in no time."

"_Sub-zero Ice Punch_, you know," Frigimon stated easily enough.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Matt asked, hope in his voice.

"No, when it rains kids I usually notice. You were the only two who fell here. If there are more of you, they must be on the other islands."

Matt did his best to relax. He vaguely remembered an angel telling him that TK was alright, but he wasn't with Tai so therefore he had to be with one of the other kids. He hoped so anyway.

"Poor TK," Matt whispered.

"Don't worry," Tai told him. "We'll find him!"

Gabumon chose that moment to sneeze, letting the others know that he had a cold, and Frigimon walked off mysteriously. Tai looked to Gabumon curiously.

"How'd you get a cold anyway?" he asked. "You're the one with the fur."

"Stop making fun of him!" Matt snapped, pulling on Tai's arm. "Leave him alone Tai!"

"Hey! Why don't you chill out Matt! I was only trying to see what we could do to help him!"

Gabumon sneezed again, and Agumon told him to head back into the caves for a rest. The two digimon walked off, and the two humans watched him go.

"We have to figure out what we're going to do next," Tai said as the digimon disappeared.

"Isn't it obvious?" Matt asked. "We have go search for all the others."

"Yeah, right, but how are we supposed to do that? You heard what Frigimon said, everyone landed on different islands. Unless you've got airplane stashed around here someplace, I think we're stuck."

"So I guess we'll ask Frigimon for help?" Matt asked, clearly not too keen on the idea.

"Weren't you listening to me?" Tai asked in reply. "He said they're scattered all over the place. He only has two arms, he's not an octopus."

"Then I'll have to make a raft out of some of these trees, okay?"

"Matt, calm down. What's eating you dude? I'm on your side. I'll help you get off this island if we have to build surfboards okay? Look, the others will be fine without us, for now we've got to focus on the real deal."

"Real deal?"

"What, I gotta spell it out for you? We've got to know if this island is heading towards that place Devimon talked about."

"That's not the real deal! You dufus! There's nothing more real than our friends, and finding them, and getting us all back home safe and don't you ever forget it! You want to ditch your friends to go look for a faraway land, then go ahead, but I'm not coming! I'll find TK, I'll find all of them, by myself!"

Matt turned and started to run, and Tai only had a few moments to blink in shock and run after him. Being the faster of the two Tai was easily able to gain on Matt and tackle him to the ground. He started to talk about how on the other side of the ocean was potential help to find the others. He was hurt by Matt's accusation that he didn't care, he cared a lot and he would never forgive himself if anything happened to any one of them.

"I know how you feel Matt," he said softly. Matt stopped struggling under him, and turned slowly to look at Tai. Tai watched him, his guard down, and then Matt punched him in the face. Tai fell backwards with a pained grunt, and Agumon appeared at his side, looking at him in concern. Matt stood up and loomed over Tai.

"You haven't got a clue how I feel, Tai! You're acting like such a jerk!"

"You think I don't know?!" Tai screamed at him. "You have your brother, I get that! You feel responsible for him! But guess what Matt? TK has Patamon with him to protect him! I brought Jade into this world and she has no one! She's still with Devimon and there's not a single friendly digimon around her to help her! If anything happens to her it will be my fault because I left her alone after I promised to keep her safe!"

"Tai, that's not your fault," Agumon said slowly. "It's not your fault Jade is here."

"Until I find proof otherwise, that's what I'll continue to believe!" Tai told him, tears in his eyes. He looked back at Matt. "The Sovereign told me that she was protecting us as a favour to Jade, but she never said that Jade was alright! Jade could be dead, and it would have been because we weren't strong enough to save her, because I wasn't strong enough!"

"Tai," Matt whispered, his own rage suddenly forgotten. He knew Tai cared, he'd seen it often enough during their travels, and he had seen how attached he was to Jade. He'd seen how the boy would ignore his own injuries, putting his health at risk, just so Jade would feel safe and belonged in the group. Tai stood up, pushing away his own tears and faced the blonde boy with as much strength as he could muster.

"You still think that I'm a jerk Matt?"

"No," Matt replied, shaking his head as tears dripped down his cheeks. "I'm sorry I said that, but it's like you said. TK's out there on some strange island and he's all alone. I know Patamon's with him but I don't know if he was injured, or if his bed got down safely, or maybe Patamon was injured and TK doesn't even have his protection. I'm scared for him, he's my responsibility."

"I know Matt," Tai sighed. "I know."

"I know that now, Tai," Matt said desperately. "I'm sorry I hit you."

"Forgiven."

_Silly little humans, but so entertaining_

Tai and Matt spun around, looking in all directions before looking up. Matt saw the angel who had spoken to him during the night, and Tai saw the Sovereign again. The two digimon grinned at the sight of their idol. The Sovereign was sitting on top of a tree, legs swinging as if she were on a chair instead of twenty metres off the ground.

"Sovereign," Agumon called in greeting. "Why don't you come down?"

_I have work to do little digimon_, the Sovereign said in their minds._ The Black Gears are poisoning my digimon; I must act to eradicate them._

"Sovereign! Wait!" Tai called. "Is Jade alright? Please, I must know."

_The one you call Jade is still alive, but she is weak_

"She's alive," Tai breathed, sinking into the snow in relief.

"And TK?" Matt asked. "Is he hurt?"

_Your brother is safe, and having the time of his life I believe. He is in the Primary Village_

"He'll be safe there Matt," Gabumon said. "The Primary Village is where baby digimon hatch."

Matt sighed in relief as well. The Sovereign smiled down at them, her sceptre sitting across her knees. Her eyes swept over the land and as she found what she was looking for she spread her wings and flew up into the air. They watched her go, before Tai and Matt decided that it might be a good idea to follow her. They came to the edge of a cliff, where they almost ran into another ice digimon, this one known as Mojyamon.

Mojyamon looked like a snow monster, with huge feet, big ears, and wicked sharp teeth. His fur was greyish white to blend into the snow, but the Black Gear in his chest prevented any of them from attempting to be friendly. They considered running, but Mojyamon charged at them before they could figure out where to go. They jumped to the side, and Mojyamon ran passed them. But when he turned the children and digimon realised their mistake.

"Oops," Tai breathed, looking over the side of the cliff. "We're trapped."

"I can see that Tai," Matt informed him. "What do we do?"

"Climb down as fast as we can before he forces us to fall?" Tai suggested. Matt looked at him incredulously, just as Mojyamon thrust a thick icicle into the ground and breaking their ledge free from support. They fell straight down, but unlike the first time they had fallen off a cliff, there was no water underneath them to break their fall.

There was Frigimon.

Matt and Tai landed on Frigimon's head, and as he fell back Agumon and Gabumon fell on his stomach. Frigimon was unhurt, but he had dropped the food he had been carrying on the ground. He looked at the children who were sitting up, looking amazed that they were alive after such a fall.

"It's raining kids and digimon again," Frigimon observed. "I'm going to have to start carrying an umbrella."

"Thank you Frigimon!" Gabumon and Agumon chanted together.

"Good timing," Matt told him.

"Without you, we'd be as flat as pancakes!" Tai added.

"Well, next time try not to land on my head," Frigimon told him. Tai grinned happily enough. "Here, I brought some food."

"Excellent!" Tai cried in delight, grabbing the offered food. "Let's eat!"

"And it's good!" Agumon cried with delight as he accepted another bundle of food. "And it's tasty, just the way I like it."

Frigimon smiled at him before handing over what looked like grass to Gabumon. He explained that it was an old cold remedy that worked really well for the other digimon who weren't suited to the snowy plains. Gabumon immediately put it all in his mouth, before gagging on the awful flavour. Frigimon smiled at him, before a growl behind him alerted him to the fact that Mojyamon had followed the children off the cliff. The children ran off screaming, but Frigimon turned and prepared to fight.

_Why does everyone think fighting solves everything?_

All eyes darted upwards, where the Sovereign was standing on the edge of the cliff. Her sceptre was spinning in front of her already, so Tai and Agumon staggered backwards further so they wouldn't be caught in the attack. Matt and Gabumon followed their lead, but Frigimon never moved.

"_Harmonious Flame_!" the Sovereign cried. The flames bore down on Mojyamon, removing the Black Gear from his front. Mojyamon dropped to the ground, free of the Black Gear's influence at last. Frigimon sighed in relief, and picked up the now much smaller Mojyamon.

"That's better," he said. "Back to regular Mojyamon size."

"I feel like I was just run over by a Monochromon!" Mojyamon declared.

The Sovereign lifted into the air again, but this time she didn't go far before turning to face the mountain. Her wings grew brighter as the flames became bigger, and completely ignoring her sceptre, the Sovereign flew at the mountain side without considering her own safety. She collided into the mountain and as the rocks fell free, the inside of the mountain could finally be seen. Hundreds of gears sat innocently by, protected by the rock. They were struggling to turn, but the children couldn't believe how many gears were actually inside the mountain. The Sovereign flew at the mountain side again, and as she bounced back unharmed, the flames of her wings had altered the direction the gears had been trying to turn.

"Look! We're heading back to Infinity Mountain!" Tai cried with delight.

"And Devimon," Matt added.

"Yeah, hopefully the others will make it back as well."

"Together we can do anything," Matt said. "Have faith Tai, we'll be together again soon."

_Don't worry about the others, they will meet you back on Infinity Mountain_

"Thank you for your help Sovereign!" Agumon called.

"I hope we see you again someday!" Gabumon added.

_Silly digimon, of course we'll meet again_

The Sovereign flew away from the island, the sound of bells echoing after her. Frigimon and Mojyamon sighed in delight.

"Ah, the Bells of Truth," Frigimon said. "Such a beautiful sound."

"Bells of Truth?" Matt asked.

"The Sovereign in the Guardian of Truth," Mojyamon explained. "So when we hear her bells, we call them the Bells of Truth because it means that she is nearby. They haven't been heard for so long we've almost forgotten what they sounded like."

"Do you think she's gone to help the others?" Matt asked.

"She said she'd protect us because of Jade, so I guess that means she'll protect the others as well," Tai told him. "All we can do now is wait."

* * *

Izzy stared up at the walls of the temple with an enrapt expression on his face. His computer was on his lap and he was ignoring everything that was going on around him. Tentomon was standing behind him, looking bored, and on the other side of the little room were Mimi and Palmon. In the corner of the room twirled one of Devimon's Black Gears.

"Izzy, any ideas on how long this is going to take?" Mimi asked. "I mean, can we go some time before winter sets in? Izzy?"

"Izzy, your friend is asking you a question," Tentomon prodded.

"Yeah, and her rear end's getting cold sitting on this stone floor doing nothing," Mimi added.

"Mmm, oh wait! Wait! Yeah, yeah! That might work!" Izzy said to himself, tapping away at the keys on his computer. Mimi stood up in frustration and annoyance. Tentomon started to panic, recognising that Mimi was about to lose her temper.

"Ah, Izzy?"

"Are you ignoring me, you computer geek, pipsqueak?" Mimi asked furiously.

"Okay, so if I make the variable constant and search for factual patterns…hey, here's something," Izzy continued to mumble, not having heard a word his friend was saying. "Prodigious! These ruins are a gigantic maze!"

Mimi continued to glare at the back of Izzy's head, her anger getting stronger and stronger. Tentomon shuffled away from her nervously, but despite his continuous calls to Izzy, the boy had no idea what was going on behind him.

"I'm leaving! Right now!" Mimi suddenly screamed, before bursting into loud tears. At that Izzy turned around, finally realising that something had changed in the mood of the others. Palmon copied her partner, and giant tears dripped from both their eyes.

"Don't cry Mimi," Tentomon pleaded. "Oh no, not you too Palmon! Izzy, do something!"

"Do what?" Izzy asked. "My laptop can't do everything!"

"I don't know," Tentomon continued, a hint of sarcasm creeping into his voice. "Tell her you're sorry!"

"Sorry? For what?"

"I can't take it anymore! I haven't had anything to eat and my feet are killing me and a giant lemon custard tried to kiss me and all I want to do is get out of here!" Mimi wailed.

"I just want to leave, is that so wrong?" Palmon asked. She darted forward so that she was standing in front of Izzy. "Honestly Izzy, how can you be so insensitive?"

"Insensitive? What do you mean?" Izzy asked, way beyond confused. He had no idea how to handle crying girls.

"You ignore us while you poke away at your computer," Palmon explained.

"I'm not ignoring you!" Izzy protested. "I'm doing something ultra-important like maybe saving this world! If I can just decipher these hieroglyphs then maybe we could-!"

"Just keep your stupid hieroglyphics!" Mimi screamed at him. She turned and ran, and seeing that Izzy wasn't standing up to follow her, Tentomon flew after Mimi to make sure she'd be alright. Palmon stayed by Izzy, still berating him.

"You just like playing on your computer!"

"You think I'm just playing around here?"

"I almost think you like computers more than people!" Palmon burst into more tears, and Izzy turned around to get some help from Tentomon. He gulped when he realised that they were alone.

"Don't look now, but Mimi and Tentomon are gone."

"Now what do we do?" Palmon asked, tears disappearing instantly. Izzy shrugged, but placed his computer on the ground and led Palmon back outside. Palmon walked around for a bit, looking for Mimi, but the girl and Tentomon weren't anywhere to be seen.

"I don't see them anywhere," Palmon stated. "Where could they have gone?"

"They didn't go deeper into the maze did they?" Izzy asked, turning to look at the temple.

"That would be my guess," Palmon replied with a nod.

"The deciphered hieroglyphs tell me the inside of this temple is a giant labyrinth," Izzy explained to Palmon. "So if that is the case…they could be lost in there forever."

"Forever?!" Palmon cried in horror. Izzy nodded seriously before heading back into the temple to where his laptop was still waiting for him. Palmon waited by the door for him, but upon seeing him sit down and recommence typing on his computer, she walked over with confusion plain on her face. She looked over his shoulder and watched as a plethora of letters and numbers flashed by on the screen.

"Oh I can't bare it!" she finally declared, turning back to the door. "I'm going in!"

"And get lost yourself?" Izzy asked her without turning around. "No Palmon, we've got to use our heads for this."

"But we can't just leave them!"

"We won't, but this is one super complicated maze. We've got to try and get a handle on it. Then maybe I can help get them out."

Palmon moaned in worry, but nevertheless, remained by Izzy's side and watched as he used the computer to work. As he worked, Palmon studied him. He really was a strange boy, and didn't seem to connect with the other kids at all well. Palmon thought back over the days they had been together, and realised that Izzy hadn't even spoken with Jade. What could have made a young boy like Izzy fear human connections?

"Why don't you like the other kids?" Palmon eventually asked.

"What? I do like them."

"You never speak with them," Palmon pointed out. "And I think you do like computers more than you like people. But, why?"

"Computers are easier to understand than people," Izzy told her, staring blankly at his computer screen. "When everyone around you is lying to you, or keeping secrets, computers are always honest and have never tried to deceive me."

"Who deceived you?"

"My…parents," Izzy whispered. "I…don't want to talk about it Palmon."

"Oh, okay," Palmon replied. She wondered what Izzy's parents had gone that had broken his faith in people. She made herself comfortable and thought a little more. Despite not liking people, or trust people to be more accurate, he was still doing something to help Mimi and Tentomon.

"There they are." Palmon looked closer at the picture of the screen in puzzlement. Izzy had pulled up a picture of the labyrinth and there was a tiny red dot blinking up in the corner.

"That's Mimi, that blinking light?" Palmon asked.

"Precisely," Izzy stated. He clicked on the red light and a voice that sounded like Tentomon echoed from the computer's speakers.

"_No, no, not that way_."

"_Oh buzz off! Leave me alone!_"

"That's my girl!" Palmon cheered as they heard Mimi scolding Tentomon. Izzy grinned happily, his earlier thoughts about his parents retreating into the back of his mind.

"I've homed in on the signal from her digivice," he explained. "We can hear her, let's hope she can hear us."

He pulled a microphone and headphone set from his bag and attached it to his left ear. Palmon looked at it curiously, but assumed that it was something that all humans used to communicate and didn't question him about it.

"Izzy to Mimi, do you read me? Repeat, do you read me?"

"_Izzy, is that you?_" Mimi asked.

"Alright! It's working! Okay Mimi, I'm going to navigate for you so walk exactly where I tell you to."

"_Uh_," Mimi uttered, not entirely confident in Izzy's abilities.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay," Palmon told her, leaning in close to the microphone. "He knows what he's doing."

"_Is that you Palmon?_" Tentomon asked.

"Just do what Izzy tells you and you'll be out of there before you know it!"

For the next several minutes Izzy gave direction after direction to Mimi, and she followed them without too much protest. Even when she was asked to walk along a narrow ledge to get a across a room with a false floor, she obeyed. Izzy was so focused on getting Mimi to safety, that he didn't realise there was another in the maze with her. This new addition was highlighted in yellow, but Izzy had no idea what it could have been.

Tentomon informed him that Centarumon, a half man half horse digimon, was baring down on them. They started to run and Izzy quickly studied the layout of the maze to wither get them out of get to them to provide help. He saw it quickly and handed out rapid instructions before abandoning his computer and running outside with Palmon close behind him.

"Where are we going?" Palmon asked.

"We're going to help them!" Izzy called as he ran. He picked up a fairly large rock and started to bash it against the side of the temple. Palmon saw his plan and started to help him. They needed to make a big enough hole so that Mimi and Tentomon would be able to escape. There was an explosion from inside and Izzy hit the wall harder. A hole appeared and Mimi's relieved face turned to look at them in relief. Izzy felt relief too, for a moment he had thought Mimi would be on the other side of the room.

"Get out of there!" he ordered. "Hurry! Come on!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Mimi told him, already making a run for the opening. Centarumon didn't like the idea of that and charged up the weapon on his arm. Palmon lurched forward to protect Mimi, digivolving as she entered the room.

"Palmon digivolve to – Togemon!"

"Leave me friends alone!" Togemon ordered, punching Centarumon's arm so that the humans would be protected. Unfortunately, what Togemon didn't know was that Centarumon had the ability to alter which arm became a weapon. Izzy spotted it and darted forward to protect Mimi, and Mimi was only able to spare him a glance of shock before Tentomon jumped forward and digivolved.

"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"

It was then that they realised exactly how big their digimon got when the digivolved. Due to the size of the small room, the digimon were pressed against the wall and were pinning the two humans to the wall behind them. Mimi groaned a little, looking up at Kabuterimon who was in front of her. Izzy was completely frozen. By some luck he had managed to avoid all of Togemon's sharp needles, but it was near thing.

"I forgot," Mimi said. "When you get bigger, you get a lot bigger, don't you? Watch where you step!"

"Oh, sorry," Kabuterimon apologised.

Centarumon fired his weapon at the pinned group and the force of the blast sent them all outside and destroyed the wall keeping them inside. Togemon ended on her stomach but when she rolled over and stood up, it was to see a figure standing on the roof the temple.

"Well that's one way to get out of there!" Mimi said, dusting off her clothes and sitting up.

"Yeah, but this is no time for us to be taking it easy," Izzy told her. "Look who's here!"

Centarumon exited the temple and glared down at them. Kabuterimon fired his _Electro Shocker_ at Centarumon, doing his best to protect the children. Togemon stood as well, but it wasn't to fight Centarumon. She watched as the figure on the temple roof swooped down, and a jet of fire hit Centarumon from behind at the same time as Kabuterimon's attack hit him from the front. A Black Gear exploded up into the air before disintegrating.

"That felt…interesting," Centarumon stated before collapsing to the floor. Izzy and Mimi were both focused on that fact that there had been a Black Gear inside the digimon, but there was one member of their group his attention was focused elsewhere.

"I don't believe it," Togemon breathed. "Protector?"

All eyes went up to where the flying figure curved around and landed up beyond them. Centarumon stood up again, still unsteady, and his eyes dropped from the figure. He bowed respectfully.

"Sovereign, please forgive me," he said. "I was not in control of myself."

_I know, loyal friend, Devimon has much to answer for_

"Sovereign?" Mimi repeated. "The demigod Patamon was telling Jade and TK about?"

_I have a name you know_

"Your true name hasn't been uttered in this world for many centuries Sovereign," Centarumon explained. "But the legend of what you have done for us still lives on. This temple was made to honor what you did for us."

_I noticed that as I flew over. Whose idea was that?_

"I believe it was the Numemon," Centarumon told her. "You saved them during a battle with the Dark Masters."

_Dark Masters, fools they were. But I was distracted and they were able to cast me down._

"Who distracted you?" Izzy asked curiously.

_There is no word for our relationship, though I suppose it would be like your relationship with your digimon._

"Oh," Izzy said, looking up at Kabuterimon. Both he and Togemon de-digivolved and walked closer to their partners to make sure that they were alright. The Sovereign smiled down at them. Centarumon stared sadly at the ruined wall before looking back at the children with the intention of apologising to them as well.

"That device on your bag…" Centarumon said instead, his eyes fastened on Mimi's bag. Mimi looked down and realised that he was looking at her digivice.

"This?" she asked.

"I have seen it before," Centarumon continued.

_Of course you have. I believe I told you to watch out for it…didn't I?_

"You did, but it's been so long. The digidestined are back?"

_Explain it to them Centarumon. I must leave you now._

"Wait! The others?" Izzy cried. "Are they alright?"

_They are fine. Farewell for now. I assure you that we will see each other again._

The Sovereign flew up into the sky before disappearing into the distance. They watched her go without saying a word, but then Centarumon led them further into the temple. They followed him willingly enough, and in the centre of the labyrinth they found a chamber that housed a statue of an angel. The angel was holding a stone model of the digivice out to them, and there was a smile on her face that welcomed them.

"This is our protector, the Sovereign of this land," Centarumon explained. "This temple was made shortly after she disappeared at the insistence of the Numemon. It was she who told us that one day the digidestined would return to protect us in her stead, and to remind us that she would one day return this temple was frequently visited. I am its guardian, and I am deeply sorry for attacking you."

"Do you know who the Sovereign is?" Izzy asked curiously. "This statue of her, is it an exact likeness?"

"What do you mean Izzy?" Mimi asked.

"Well, look at it," Izzy told her. "Doesn't it remind you of someone?"

Mimi stared at the statue for a long moment before gasping.

"That's impossible," she breathed. "But then why wouldn't she–?"

"If she didn't remember," Izzy explained. "How could we know?"

"But then, right now? She would have said something, right?"

"The Sovereign was greatly injured when she first came to us, and then as she left us as well," Centarumon explained. "She may not completely remember who she is, but this I know. The truth will set her free."

Mimi and Izzy looked at each other. Things had just gotten that little bit more complicated.

"I think we should work on getting back to the others," Izzy said eventually.

"I agree," Mimi told him.

* * *

Outside the temple Leomon was facing a problem of his own. He had tracked down the digidestined to the temple of the Sovereign, but he hadn't considered that he would meet the Sovereign just outside. His mind was being controlled by Devimon, but even being completely subservient, he knew that he could never attack the Sovereign. She stared down at him without speaking.

"I must obey," Leomon told her.

_Then obey me, return to Devimon and make sure that the children remained unharmed. They are under my protection._

"Yes Sovereign."

_Oh Leomon, you used to know me so much better than that_

Leomon both enjoyed and feared the sound of her laughter. The sound of her voice could drive back the darkness and strengthen the light. There was a time when Leomon could have listened to her speak all day just feel the warmth, but as there was darkness controlling him, he wanted nothing more than to escape. He turned and ran.

Maybe he could obey Devimon's orders in another way…that would leave the children strong enough to face him.

The Bells of Truth sounded after him, and he knew that the Sovereign was going after the other Black Gears. Leomon decided that it was time to slowly make his way back to Devimon. Maybe he could drop by Primary Village on his way. The digidestined wouldn't be there, surely?

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 8: Angels_**


	8. Angels

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies: _

_Eight children have appeared in the Digital World, seven who have a partner and one who has memories of the Digital World from her childhood. This child is Jade Potter. Together the group of eight humans and seven digimon (Digital Monsters) explore the island they arrived on, slowly making their way to the mountain in the middle, Infinity Mountain. One of the many dangers they come across is the Black Gears, evil discs that can make good digimon into dark digimon. After arriving on Infinity Mountain the group meet Devimon and are subsequently separated. Alone and adrift, the children all make their way back to their friends. Tai and Matt have found each other, as has Mimi and Izzy. Protecting them from harm is the fabled Sovereign, protector of all digimon._

_Now we learn of the outcome of Devimon's plot to rule the Digital World, and discover the Sovereign's identity..._

Chapter 8: Angels

* * *

Joe was sinking, and he was sinking fast. At first he blamed Ogremon for destroying the bed he and Gomamon had been floating on, for if the digimon hadn't attacked them they would still be floating aimless towards the land that they couldn't see. He probably could also blame Gomamon for not being strong enough to save him, but that was cruel. Gomamon was exhausted and drained of energy. No, in the end Joe blamed himself for not fighting the sinking. He wasn't a strong swimmer, and hated water with a passion, but he knew the basics of how to float. He decided that he wasn't fighting because…if he died maybe he would return to the Real World where he wouldn't have to worry about saving someone else's world.

All his life Joe had been working towards a career path that he didn't want to do. His father was a well-respected doctor, his mother a paediatrician, and his brother was in the middle of working on his doctorate. Everyone expected him to be a doctor like everyone else in his family, but Joe hated blood more than anything else. He got squeamish if someone's insides were on display and when faced with a crisis everything he knew disappeared from his head. He had resigned himself to being miserable.

But then he had been sent to summer camp despite having wanted to go to summer school, and he had had fun. He had been able to put some of his medical knowledge to use without having a panic attack, and had even been able to talk with some of the English students. He had always been fascinated with other cultures, and he supposed that if he hadn't been working towards a career in medicine, he probably would have considered being a teacher in other countries.

And then everything had changed. They had been sucked into another world, _another world!_ And that hadn't even been the biggest shock. No, the little creatures that called themselves digimon stuck with them as if they were a part of their shadows. Joe had never had a good relationship with any animal he had come across. Cats tried to scratch him, dogs tried to bite him, birds pooped on him or pecked at his head, and any fish that he had died just to spite him. Bukamon, the name of his new…pet…didn't seem to want to leave him alone. He didn't understand how the others accepted their own digimon partner so quickly.

After Kuwagamon attacked and Bukamon became Gomamon, the danger became real. They weren't on a vacation; they were in the middle of a war they knew absolutely nothing about. Digimon were trying to kill them, and Joe had no idea why. It seemed like the only other child who understood the dangers around them was Jade, and while that could have been because she didn't have a digimon of her own, it made Joe feel like he wasn't completely alone in his beliefs.

Joe opened his eyes and stared at the inky blackness of the water. He was pretty sure that he had already run out of air, and briefly regretted not telling Gomamon that he was sorry for yelling at him. He couldn't even see Gomamon now…oh wait, there he was. Gomamon was sinking right along with him, and just before Joe closed his eyes he smiled. He wasn't as alone as he had thought. At some point in their adventure, he had come to trust Gomamon, even like him. It was such a shame that he only realised that now as he was dying.

_You're not going to die_

Joe blinked in shock as a voice not his own echoed in his mind. The sound of bells rang invitingly, and instinctively Joe reached for it. Warmth surrounded him, and he looked towards Gomamon to see that he was encased in bubble or something. They were moving up now, and despite what the voice told him, Joe was positive that he had died and was now being carried to heaven. He wondered if, when he looked back, he'd see his dead body drifting to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again. He wondered if anyone would miss him.

_You are so negative about yourself, I didn't think anyone could rival Jade in self-pity_

Jade? Joe thought about the little girl fondly. So afraid of everything around her, she had really warmed up to all of them. He could almost see her emerald eyes staring at him with amusement, reaching her hands out for him to help her. How could he deny helping her? He reached out and caught her hand. Water was forcefully expelled from his lungs and as he went limp he realised that he was above the surface of the water. He passed out.

Gomamon knew when Joe passed out for he went completely limp and his eyes closed. He felt weak himself, but he still had just enough strength to look up at their rescuer. A warm arm was wrapped around his waist, and he knew that Joe was safe in their rescuer's other arm. He was ashamed of himself for letting them both sink, but he hadn't had the strength to keep his partner safe.

_It wasn't your fault Gomamon_

"But if I'd just held on a little longer, maybe I could have made it to land before my strength completely failed," Gomamon protested.

_You did your best_

"My best wasn't good enough."

Gomamon stared up at the girl holding him. She was wearing a strapless pale gold dress that stopped just above her knees at the front, but at the back the dress stopped mid-calf. On each upper arm was a golden cuff, and there was a golden bangle on each wrist. Her hair was pale with strands on gold and red scattered throughout to make give it a shimmering appearance. He couldn't see how long it was, but he imagined that it was fairly long. Her eyes were a stunning green colour, and were glittering with amusement as he studied her. But what really caught his attention was the she had wings, and they were made of fire.

"Sovereign?" he asked uncertainly. Then he looked closer. "Jade?"

_Very observant Gomamon_

"But – how? When?"

_All will be revealed in time, but know this little one, I will watch over you_

Gomamon nodded and snuggled in closer to the Sovereign's body, to Jade's body. Questions spun around in his head quicker than he could imagine, but there was one question above all that stuck out to him: How was Jade the Sovereign?

* * *

Sora was fishing, but she wasn't having much luck. Biyomon was dancing around behind her, excited at the prospect of fish, but Sora wasn't paying much attention to her. She was worried about all the others, and was wondering if they had all landed safely. She and Biyomon had been lucky to land near the island they were currently on, her bed hadn't lasted long crashing against the shore. Sora was also happy that she had her clothes with her. But she also had Jade's clothes with her. The young girl had been so tired at the mansion that she had fallen asleep as soon as they had her in something to sleep in, and Sora had kept Jade's bag and clothes with her. So wherever Jade was, she didn't have her clothes.

"Hey Sora, do you see what I see?" Biyomon asked, bouncing over and staring out over the ocean. Sora followed her gaze and gasped in shock. A bright light was making its way closer to them, and without meaning to Sora dropped her fishing rod and stumbled away from the shore. The light came closer, until Sora could see that the light was actually wings.

"Oh my," Biyomon breathed. "It's the Sovereign."

"Sovereign?" Sora asked her.

"Yes, and she's got Joe and Gomamon."

Biyomon was right. Hanging limply in the Sovereign's arms were Joe and Gomamon, both unconscious. The Sovereign landed a little ways away from them, and gently placed Joe and Gomamon on the ground. A small fire was glowing near them, but as Sora and Biyomon came closer the Sovereign took a running leap and was soon flying in the air again. Biyomon stopped to watch her go, but Sora continued running so that she could check on the two new visitors on the island.

"They're just exhausted," she told Biyomon with relief in her voice. "They'll be fine."

"I can't believe that the Sovereign in actually back," Biyomon cheered as she bounced around excitedly. "We've been waiting for so long, and now she's back and she's helping us! Yay!"

"She's not just the Sovereign," Gomamon murmured, sitting up and blinking his eyes. He looked around curiously and smiled at Sora and Biyomon before continuing. "I'm not sure how it's possible, or if I'm right at all, but I think the Sovereign is Jade."

"Jade?" Sora repeated, pausing in her efforts to get Joe closer to the fire. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, but I don't know how it's possible," Gomamon told her. "She's like a more confident version of Jade, one who smiles more. But her warmth and her eyes are definitely Jade. She saved our lives, and I know that she's been helping the others as well."

"How's that possible?" Biyomon asked.

"You remember Toy Town Biyomon?" Gomamon asked. "Jade's eyes _glowed_, she changed just slightly then. And then when we fight the Black Gears Jade is always a little weaker afterwards. And then there's the fact that she's been here before, a long time ago. Everything makes sense."

"But…Jade's a human," Sora protested. "We don't have the ability to become digimon."

"Maybe something happened when she was here last and that made it possible for her to become like us," Biyomon suggested. "And yet, if something did happen it would have to be really big, because she is our leader. Patamon wasn't exaggerating when he called her a demigod. The Sovereign rules over us and keeps us safe."

"We'll have to ask her about it later," Sora decided. "But for now, I think we should worry about how we're going to get off this island. We need to get back to the others."

The two digimon agreed with her. While they were tending to Joe, who was still unconscious, Gomamon told them how they had landed in the middle of the ocean and were attacked by Ogremon. He had digivolved but lacked the strength to keep them both afloat and sunk below the surface. The next thing he knew was being lifted in a warm bubble and being carried by the Sovereign towards land. He admitted that he was worried about Joe's confidence, now that they had been frightened by Ogremon, half drowned, and lost on an island in the middle of nowhere. He suggested the Joe become their leader, something the others were willing to do as it meant someone else could make the decisions about what to do.

Joe woke a short time later and after a short explanation of what was happening, excluding what they had talked about in regards to the Sovereign and Jade, they decided that it was time to make a move. At first Joe was very reluctant to be the leader of their little group, he had been quite comfortable letting Tai take over leadership of them early on, but he warmed to the idea after they had looked at him with such hope in their eyes. He was a sucker for puppy dog eyes, something that Jade had learnt early on and used often when she needed something from him.

Bells ring in the distance and they all turn to look up the mountain. The fog that blankets the island lifts slightly in order for the group to see a church of some description sitting innocently by. The fact that there was a building sitting in the middle of the island caused much excitement, and Joe leapt at the chance of finding other people. He led them up the hill, though he carried Gomamon on his back as the digimon was still weak and couldn't keep up that well on land.

They made it to the church without any incident, and despite feeling utterly terrified, Joe instructed Gomamon to stay with Sora and Biyomon while he went to check out the church. He really wanted to see if there were people around, and he knew that there were people in the Digital World somewhere. He remembered Tai talking about Jade's dreams, and the fact that there had been people to help take care of the digimon.

Sora, Biyomon and Gomamon watched him go with some confusion.

"I really hope he's not going to turn into Tai and start behaving like everything is his responsibility," Sora muttered. "One stubborn fool is enough. We don't need heroes, we need to work together."

"He's taking our safety seriously," Gomamon told her. "He needs others to rely on him, just as much as we need him to stop being a basket case."

Sora sighed, even though she agreed with Gomamon to a point. She turned her eyes skyward, wishing that she could see the stars through the fog. She knew that they would need to be together soon, something bad was about happen.

Meanwhile, Joe was sneaking around the side of the building and was staring gobsmacked at the dozens of people dancing around wearing masks. While he had wanted to find people, actually finding them was incredible. A huge grin appeared on his face and he ran back to Sora and the digimon to tell them to good news. They didn't believe him at first, but after he pulled them around so that they could see, they were equally gobsmacked.

"There are people," Sora said surprised. "They're dancing and wearing masks, like it's Halloween."

"Hallo…what?"

Joe, Sora and the digimon screamed in shock as a person dressed like a priest spoke from right next to them. They hadn't even heard him sneak up close to them. He, like the others dancing, was wearing a mask that just made him look odd. Sora calmed down first, though Joe found it a little more difficult. There was something really wrong about where they were, and he knew that something bad was about to happen to them.

"I'm sorry," Sora said, once she'd stopped screaming. "You startled us."

"I apologise," the man said. "I thought you had heard me approach."

"What are they doing?" Biyomon asked, pointing to the dancers. The man looked at them quickly before leading them to the entrance of the church, explaining as he walked.

"They're celebrating the Bakemon Holiday. Every Holiday, we dress up and dance around the church."

"It reminds me of Halloween," Joe said. "We dress up every year in costumes and play around the streets where we live."

"We'd love to have you join us," the man continued. "We don't have a lot of young people around, and no holiday is complete without them. You arrived just in time for some…fun."

Joe suddenly had a really bad feeling. The way the man had said "fun" had made him think that what would be fun for them, wouldn't be fun for him and Sora. He didn't say as much, as Sora and the digimon seemed to be relaxed, but as the temporary leader of their group he needed to protect them. All of a sudden he thought about Tai's actions, and how he always jumped into danger. Was it because he was the leader and wanted to protect everyone?

"Like trick or treat?" Sora asked curiously. "You do that for Bakemon?"

"Yes," the man said slowly, turning so that he could face them.

"Bakemon, as in Lord Bakemon?" Gomamon asked.

"Yes," the man said again, this time with a hint of curiosity.

"But the only Bakemon I know is a horrible digimon who lives amongst ghosts as their ruler. Why would you honor and celebrate someone like that? In the words of our friends, he's like a loser."

"You got that right," Biyomon added. Joe smacked his head in embarrassment. Maybe he should have stopped Gomamon from speaking as soon as he knew what the little digimon would be asking. He knew that there were people out there very touchy about their religion, and it seemed that these Bakemon followers were the touchy kind.

"Don't you dare some in here telling us who to honor or not!"

"Now, now," Gomamon stated uneasily.

"Back off," Biyomon agreed.

"You're a little touchy," Sora told him. "We just want to know when the trick or treating starts."

"You're not afraid?" the man asked curiously, the earlier violence gone from his system. All four of them shook their heads, though the way that he had asked was causing Joe to reassess how afraid he should be.

"Well you should be," the man growled. "Because it's a trick."

His mask started to break, cracks appearing in numerous places before it shattered revealing the true face of the fiend behind it. A white ghost, complete with two dark eyes and sharp pointy teeth burst into existence, demonstrating that the image of the man had been the costume.

"And you're the treat!"

Joe and Sora screamed in horror, and all the other people in the church got rid of their costumes and became ghosts as well. The ghosts were Bakemon, and they were the types of digimon who caused nightmares. Joe ordered them to run, grabbing Sora's hand as he moved so that she wouldn't get left behind. Their digimon followed, the adrenaline keeping them going even with the energy levels so low.

"This is worse than Halloween!" Sora screamed as they ran. They burst outside, coming face to face with more people. As soon as they appeared, the people became more Bakemon, and Joe knew that they were in trouble. The island was small, there was nowhere to run, and their digimon were too weak to properly fight. They were surrounded, and even though the digimon tried to fight they knew that they were outnumbered.

"We're doomed," Joe moaned. The Bakemon descended upon them like dogs over a scrap of meat. No matter how hard they fought, it proved to be useless.

"I'm allergic to pain!" Joe screamed as he and Sora were pulled away. Gomamon and Biyomon were taken to a cell of some kind, where they could only imagine what torture Sora and Joe were being forced to endure. They lay still in their cell as they tried to regain some energy, but as soon as they could they were hunting for a way out. The only guard in the room was fast asleep, and the two digimon were trying to think of a way to trick him into giving them food. Gomamon was about the throw a small rock at the Bakemon guard, but the sound of the door opening distracted him.

He and Biyomon watched the door apprehensively, and gasped in shock when the Sovereign walked in with a platter of food in her hands. The Sovereign smiled at them and placed the tray on the ground just outside the cell so that the two could reach it and eat.

"Please tell me this isn't a trick?" Gomamon pleaded.

_I wouldn't trick you Gomamon, the children need help and you need food_

"Sovereign, why don't you talk?" Biyomon asked, even as she started to eat the food.

"Yeah, you're always speaking in our minds, even though you're within speaking distance," Gomamon agreed, pausing briefly in devouring his food.

_I can't_

"Why?" they both asked.

_I'm not really here_

"…We don't understand," Biyomon told her. "We saw you carrying both Joe and Gomamon. That looked like you were here."

_Everything will be explained in time, but time is something we don't have at the moment. Joe and Sora are being prepared as sacrifices for Lord Bakemon, you must save them_

Gomamon and Biyomon nodded, finishing off their food in record time. The Sovereign smiled at them and left the room. She pointed to where the others were, directly above them, before disappearing from sight. The two digimon stared at the spot and let their new found energy gather.

"Gomamon digivolve to – Ikkakumon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"

They burst through the roof together, just in time to knock away the largest Bakemon they had ever seen. Joe and Sora looked up from where they were bound on the alter, and Birdramon quickly severed their ropes. The children left running as fast as their legs could carry them, and the two digimon prepared to fight Bakemon. This Bakemon was different than the others, for one he was several times bigger, and another, he had blue hands. These blue hands had the ability to stretch, as he demonstrated by pushing the two outside without moving his main body.

With the fight taking place in the cemetery, and Joe and Sora hiding behind some gravestones, Birdramon and Ikkakumon were able to spread out. Lord Bakemon still proved to be a lot stronger than the two champion digimon. Joe had seen a documentary on the television about mind over matter, and wanted to try it out to make Lord Bakemon weaker. Over and over he would chant "Bakemon lose your power". Sora donated her lucky hat so that Joe could use it as a drum.

"It's working," Sora said in amazement. She looked over to Joe and saw that his eyes were still closed as he beat the "drum", but then she frowned in confusion. The drum beat wasn't the only sound she heard. Keeping in time with the beat was a bell, a little one that sounded sweet and happy. She looked around in confusion, before spotting a fire in the distance. In shock she recognised the Sovereign dancing to the beat with her wings pointed up into the sky. The bells that Sora could hear were attached to the Sovereign's feet, and every step meant another sound.

Shortly after that Lord Bakemon was defeated and with the combined attacks of Birdramon and Ikkakumon, he burst into pieces. The bells stopped ringing, and when Sora turned it was to see that the Sovereign had disappeared. Her eyes returned to the ground she was standing on as it broke a part underneath her. She and Joe gasped in shock as they saw hundreds of Black Gears all breaking apart at the same time. The fog lifted, and they were finally able to see Infinity Mountain.

"That's where we need to go," Joe said. "Come on Ikkakumon, let's go!"

"Birdramon!"

"Maybe our friends are there already," Joe told Sora as she and Birdramon flew above him and Ikkakumon.

"I hope so," Sora told him.

* * *

Leomon was on the outskirts of the Primary Village, and he was conflicted. He had jumped across several islands, and aside from meeting Mimi and Izzy, he hadn't seen any of the children…and now the youngest was before him. This was the digidestined whose digimon hadn't digivolved yet, and Devimon's orders were to kill all who crossed his path. But…the Sovereign had said that the children were under her protection. He roared his anger and his confusion. Devimon's power increased and he was able to ignore the small part of him that was loyal to the Sovereign. Below him, the baby digimon screamed in horror, and as he ran towards them the Patamon attempted to attack him. His attack failed.

The boy and the Patamon ran from Primary Village into the surrounding forest, and Leomon followed them with his sword out and ready. He knew that Ogremon was around somewhere, but that digimon wasn't worth his time. The only thing that mattered was obeying Devimon. Ogremon could be heard now, and he was apparently using a hostage to make the child cooperate. Leomon followed Ogremon's voice and spotted the child hiding behind a tree. One swipe of his sword and the tree was gone.

"I've been commanded by my master to take the digidestined!" he said, sword raised to stab the boy. The boy screamed, but as Leomon was bringing his sword down there was a hot blur and the boy and the Patamon were gone. He looked around wildly, before having to dodge as one of the other children showed up, the one who was with a Garurumon.

High above the battle, TK and Patamon watched from the arms of the Sovereign. Patamon was gazing up at her with adoration, and TK was awed by the fact that her wings were actually made of fire. Patamon flew up so that he could sit on the Sovereign's shoulders, and once he moved the Sovereign shifted TK so that both her arms were around him.

_I've got you little one_

"Are you the Sovereign?" TK asked with wide eyes.

_Many call me that_

"You're an angel," Patamon stated overawed. "I want to be just like you."

_Let's head down, I'm sure your brother is desperate to see if you're alright_

TK nodded and then cheered with delight as the Sovereign flew down to where Matt was watching Garurumon fight Leomon. As they moved TK was also able to see Tai and Greymon fighting Ogremon, and he was glad that the baby digimon Ogremon had been holding hostage was safe again.

"TK!" Matt called as soon as the Sovereign was on the ground. The Sovereign darted forward to help Garurumon and her staff appeared in her hand. Leomon swung his hand at her, and while she ducked she thrust up with her staff and caught the lion in the stomach. He dropped with a pained grunt. Dancing from place to place, the sound of bells rang from her feet, and Leomon clutched at his head in agony. Garurumon attacked again, but before they could celebrate their victory and get rid of the Black Gears, more Black Gears flew in from Infinity Mountain.

The Sovereign staggered with an expression of agony on her face, and in her moment of weakness Leomon knocked her aside. Seven Black Gears collided with his back, and no matter how hard he screamed he only got bigger and bigger, evil now controlling every part of his thoughts. He sheathed his sword, and the Sovereign increased the strength of her flames to drive back the darkness.

"Turn back!" Matt ordered both Garurumon and the Sovereign. "Or he'll beat you to a pulp!"

"_Fist of the Beast King!_" Leomon cried, and as his fist was thrust forward and fireball in the shape of a lion's head appeared and collided with Garurumon. Garurumon went flying into a nearby rocky cliff and was covered in rubble. As Matt ran over to help his partner, Leomon turned and used the same attack on Greymon, sending him into the walls of the Primary Village. Seeing that TK was alone, the Sovereign flew forward until she was standing protectively in front of him. Her green eyes narrowed at Leomon. She wouldn't be able to fight all the darkness in his without assistance.

"Stand aside," Leomon ordered her.

_I cannot do as you ask, Leomon_

"Don't make me hurt you."

_I could never make you do anything. But you must fight_

"Must…obey…"

The Sovereign braced herself, her wings folding protectively in front of her, and waited for the punch to land. When nothing hit she looked up to see Togemon and Kabuterimon joining the battle. She nodded to them before standing up taller in front of TK. Matt appeared behind her, but she paid little attention to them. From the corner of her eye she noticed that Tai was walking purposefully towards them, and she smiled when she realised his plan.

"Ready for a real fight?" Tai asked Leomon. "What are you waiting for booger breath? Come on and get us if you dare."

"What's up dude?" Matt asked him. "Have you completely flipped out?"

"I must do as I am commanded," Leomon said.

_Then fight the Black Gears inside you. This won't hurt as much if you help us_

Leomon turned to her momentarily, but as he turned Tai held out his digivice. It exploded with light and sought out the Black Gears. Matt joined in when he heard Leomon scream in pain, and the Sovereign flew up into the air to use her own attack. Fire rained down on Leomon and all seven Black Gears inside his body were forcefully ejected. Leomon returned to his normal size and collapsed on the ground, even as Kabuterimon sent Ogremon running.

The Sovereign remained floating in the air, even as all the digimon crowded around Leomon to see if he was alright after having so many Black Gears in him. Leomon stood and looked up to see if she was still there, before leading the children over to a large tree so that he could recover his energy. He asked the Sovereign to join them and she perched on one of the branches.

"My Lady, why do you not join us?" Leomon asked after seeing her choice of seat.

_I'm waiting_

"Why do you not speak?"

_I'm not really here_

"You certainly felt like you were here," TK said, holding Patamon on his lap. "When you picked us up you felt really warm."

_My energy is fairly low at the moment, and I am unable to fight at full strength until the truth has been revealed to the one who needs to hear it_

"What truth?" Matt asked. "And have you see Sora, Joe and Jade?"

"Jade needs to hear the truth, doesn't she?" Izzy asked.

_Yes, though it is her heart that must tell her. Sora and Joe are on their way here and will meet you at Infinity Mountain_

"Her heart?" Tai asked. "I don't understand."

"Jade and the Sovereign are the same person," Izzy told Tai, pausing only briefly so that he and the others could gasp and look up at the angel still in the tree. "But, there are some differences."

_You are correct to a point Izzy. I am Jade, and Jade is me, but due to an accident she remembers nothing of me_

"So how are you here then?" Mimi asked. "If Jade doesn't remember being you, has that changed?"

_You must understand, when Jade first came to this world she was dying. It is the belief of all who took care of her, that if she hadn't come here when she did, she would have died. And then in our last battle against the Dark Masters…we were terribly wounded. Jade was forced to return to the Real World, and because of the pain involved in her coming and going, everything in between was erased_

"Her mind caused amnesia to protect her?" Matt asked.

_Yes, but she didn't want to forget which is how I am able to appear. Devimon caused much damage before I was able to pull Jade to safety, but she is still weak and our true body is still on Infinity Mountain_

"You were unable to take her away?" Leomon asked in shock. "Then, you are in great danger from Devimon!"

_He believes that I took Jade far from the mountain. Our body will be safe until such time as Devimon is defeated_

"So, you're a ghost?" TK asked curiously.

_For now I guess I am. But when Jade is ready, and when I am needed, we will truly become one and our strength will be unmatched_

"You being back has already pushed back the darkness," Leomon told her. "I will fight for as long as you require me to, to make sure that the darkness disappears completely."

"What do you mean about the darkness?" Tai asked, looking up at the Sovereign even if his question was directed to Leomon.

"According to ancient legend, our world will be taken over by a strange dark force that will change good digimon into bad ones. Our ancestors predicted that a group of children called the digidestined will appear from another world. When they arrive they will come to possess super powers that will eventually save out world from destruction. I believe their prediction has come true. File Island has been seized by an evil power, we're in danger of destruction, and now you have appeared."

"Whoa! That's amazing," Tai stated. "Tell me, how can you be sure that we're the kids you're talking about?"

"Yeah, do you have some proof that we're the same ones?" Matt asked.

"It's been foretold that the digidestined have the ability to make digimons digivolve. You've done that and it's all the proof I need."

"I, for one, hope that it's true" Izzy stated thoughtfully. "My theory is that we'll be released after we save the island. Once our purpose is served there's no reason for us to remain."

"And I'll finally be able to change these clothes," Mimi announced happily.

"That's right," Izzy continued. "If Leomon's information is correct, we'll be heading straight for home."

"I can't wait!"

"How can we make it happen?" Matt asked. "We're not even sure who's causing it. What if it's a force that's too big for us to handle?"

"You see," Leomon stated slowly. "Devimon is the main cause of all this evil. To save the island you're going to have to defeat him."

"Let's go for it!" Tai stated, standing up with determination on his features. "Come on everyone! Why not? If we don't defeat him it will never be over! And Jade's up there still, we can't leave her there!"

"Fine with me," Izzy agreed, standing up and looking at Tai with equal determination and excitement. "Besides, it's impossible for us to lose with the digivices."

"First thing on my list," Mimi said, standing up as well. "When I get home is to do some killer shopping."

"For that to happen we have to get you back home," Palmon told her partner.

"If we all work together, we're sure to win," Tentomon added.

"I'm ready any time you're ready Tai," Agumon said. Tai looked at him with a smile and a nod.

"It's going to be tough," Matt stated. "When you get down to it, we don't have a choice. And Jade's up there, we can't just abandon her. She's one of us."

"Alright then troops," Leomon announced with excitement in his voice. "Let's get to it!"

_I'll meet you up there. There are still some Black Gears floating around that I want gone before you start to fight. Good luck, little humans_

Digimons and humans alike stared up as the Sovereign took flight. The sound of bells echoed in her wake, giving them strength and hope. Tai watched her go with a worried expression on his face. As they started to walk to the edge of the island, with Leomon acting as their guide, Matt pulled up alongside of Tai in concern.

"She'll be alright you know," he said softly so as to keep their discussion private.

"Once she's back with us, then I'll believe that," Tai replied. "There isn't a single friendly face near her, she must be so scared."

"We'll find her."

"I know, but in what condition? What if Devimon finds her before we do? What if he destroys the island while Jade is still there? What if we fail?"

"We won't."

"How do you know?"

"I have faith."

Tai looked at Matt curiously, before smiling in gratitude. His eyes swept over the others in their party, from little TK trailing just behind them with Patamon, to Izzy and Tentomon bringing up the rear, and Mimi who was humming under her breath with Palmon clinging to her hand. He smiled at them all.

"Thanks Matt. You're a good friend."

"No problem. Now let's go and kick Devimon's butt!"

Tai laughed. They would win, losing wasn't an option.

* * *

After a good half hour of walking up Infinity Mountain the sky went dark. The children stared in horror as dozens of Black Gears flew into the peak of the mountain, causing the land to rumble ominously. They stopped walking and looked up, watching in horror as the mansion on top of Infinity Mountain broke apart to reveal Devimon, far greater and more terrible than before.

"Oh, this is not good," Tai observed. "How did he get so big?"

"What in the world is that?" Mimi asked horrified.

"That's Devimon, but he's gotten a lot bigger since we met in the fake hotel!" Tai told her.

"Bad guys always seem to think that bigger is better," Izzy muttered.

"Afraid not," Leomon told them. "The power that Devimon possesses is immense. So be careful."

Devimon launched himself off the mountain, gliding until he was standing in the forest below the children. His giant size became apparent for even though he was standing below them, he still towered high above them. As Devimon's red eyes turned on them, Tai gulped.

"Agumon, I think you'd better digivolve."

Agumon nodded, but before he could digivolve Devimon used his wings to force the children and digimon into the cliff face. The pressure from the air current had all of them flying backwards, except for Leomon who had grounded himself at the last minute. Tai looked at Devimon in anger and fear, and yelped as dark energy wrapped around him and the others. He felt himself weakening, even though he was unable to move, but he fought on, regardless. He needed to find Jade, they couldn't lose.

"You are fools!" Devimon spat at them. "Don't expect me to play silly games with you. I am far too wise for that!"

Tai forced his eyes to open and he glared with all the hate he could summon. Devimon focused on him, and a cold smile spread across his evil features. With one hand he maintained the force of dark energy, but with the other he reached forward and wrapped his fingers around Tai's frozen body. Tai screamed as he was forced away from his friends.

"What compels you?" Devimon asked, holding Tai before his face. "Where does such hate come from? So much energy, so much power…You could be great you know. I can make you stronger."

"I would rather die!" Tai spat. "You are nothing more than a monster! Why do you torment the digimon like you do?! They are innocent!"

"Why?" Devimon repeated, smiling deviously. "Because I can."

"_Harpoon Torpedo!_"

Devimon turned at the last minute and caught several of Ikkakumon's attacks on the chest. Tai dropped from his hand, screaming as he fell, and landed on Birdramon's back. He groaned in pain, clinging to Birdramon's feathers as she turned to unleash her own attack on Devimon.

"_Meteor Wind!_"

"Man, Devimon is not a gentle kind of guy," Tai moaned. "I think he broke my ribs."

"Hang on Tai, I'll get you down," Birdramon promised. Tai nodded without speaking, but as soon as Birdramon was close to the ground he allowed his body to slide off her back. He landed next to Agumon, and wrapped his arms around his ribs. The others looked at him in fear, recognising that he must have been in a lot of pain to show it.

"Tai?" Sora asked, coming closer to him. "What's wrong?"

"Devimon wasn't gentle," Tai told her quietly before looking to his partner. "Agumon, it's time to digivolve. We have to strike now and altogether!"

Agumon nodded, turning slightly so that he could see the others. They nodded to show that they were ready, and simultaneously they began to glow as they gathered the energy they needed to digivolve.

"Agumon digivolve to – Greymon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"

"Palmon digivolve to – Togemon!"

The six Champion level digimon attacked together, but even combined their attacks didn't seem to have much of an impact. Tai kept his right arm around his ribs, doing his best to hold everything still despite the pain that moving caused and allowed Matt and Sora to help him to stand. They watched in horror as their digimon were thrust aside with each careless sweep of Devimon's arms. Leomon leapt forward, aiming for Devimon's back now that it was turned, but before he could land a single hit a green blur erupted from Devimon's back and collided with Leomon.

"That's disgusting," Tai muttered, seeing that Ogremon was attached to Devimon.

"I agree," Sora told him. The girl suddenly gasped and Tai followed her line of sight to see that Birdramon was in Devimon's grip, unable to escape. Devimon threw Birdramon aside, and the red bird collided with Greymon. The two of them rolled down the cliff, but now that they were occupied with each other Devimon turned his attention to Ikkakumon.

"This is not good," Tai stated.

"Oh boy, there's nobody left! What do we do Patamon?" TK cried. Tai looked away from Devimon at the sound of his voice and pushed Matt towards his brother. Matt looked to TK, seeing how petrified the young boy was, and started to run.

"Now to get rid of you," Devimon suddenly announced, eyes focused on TK. "I'll have nothing the fear. They say the smallest will destroy me. But I'm not going to let that happen! Don't move, make it easy for the both of us!"

"TK run!" Matt ordered. Garurumon charged ahead of his and pushed Devimon's hand away so that TK wouldn't be touched. Each of the digimon converged on Devimon, wrapping their bodies around different parts of his body and biting down hard.

"You seem to forget!" Devimon cried, restlessly trying to dislodge the digimon. "I am Devimon! Supreme Master of this island! I have power over all digimon! No one can conquer me!"

There was possible a heartbeat of a warning before a wave of darkness, with Devimon at the centre, levelled everything in sight. The digimon were thrust away violently, and the children were pushed back against the wall again where they lay still and in pain. Tai groaned and forced his body to sit up. Mimi and Izzy were near him, though Sora had been pushed away from him as well. TK and Patamon were alone, and Matt was lying in the middle of the road, having not made it to TK's side before Devimon's attack.

"Sovereign, we need your help," Tai whispered. "Please, Devimon cannot be allowed to win."

_A few more minutes and I'll be there Tai_

"Where are you?"

_I'm on my way. Just a little longer_

"Hurry," Tai groaned. "This is bad."

"MATT!"

Tai tilted his gaze to TK, eyes widening in horror as he realised Devimon was reaching down to grab the boy again. He forced his body to stand, gasping as his ribs moved again, and started to run. If he was hurt after being forced to endure Devimon, TK would be killed for sure. Patamon flew up in front of TK, using his attacks to push Devimon away. For all the good it did, Patamon could have been an annoying fly and of no importance. TK started to cry for Patamon to help him, and Tai put on an extra burst of speed. Even as he ran he knew that he wouldn't make it in time.

Patamon darted in front of Devimon's hand, so instead of grabbing the boy, Devimon grabbed the digimon. Tai dropped to the ground next to TK and pulled him close to protect him. The two of them looked up at Devimon's closed hand just in time to see a bright light burst free of his fingers. Devimon let go and the light rose into the air.

"Patamon," TK whispered. Tai looked down at him briefly, squeezing the boy's shoulders gently, before looking back up again.

"Patamon digivolve to – Angemon!"

When the light faded Patamon's digivolved form became visible. With six pure white wings, golden hair, a golden staff and blue material wrapped around his body, Angemon looked like a warrior angel dedicated to the protection of the innocents.

"Hey, Patamon finally digivolved," Joe stated from where he was checking over Ikkakumon.

"That's so cool," Sora agreed from where she was still lying on the ground.

"Not bad," Matt declared. "That little guy really had it in him."

"Nice hair, good colour," Mimi praised.

"I want to take him home with me," TK stated, blue eyes wide in his awe of what Patamon had become.

"What's this?" Devimon asked. "Another foolish attempt?"

"The forces of good are more powerful, even you can't stop us," Angemon told Devimon. "I'll destroy you and bring peace to the island!"

_No Angemon!_

Tai gasped, first in shock at the desperation that he heard coming from the Sovereign, and then again as his ribs protested the movement. He looked around, but no one seemed to have heard the Sovereign's voice. TK looked up at him as he heard the gasp of pain, but Tai just gave him a small smile and turned to look at the angel digimon.

Angemon lifted his golden staff above his head, and everyone's digivice started to glow. Tai knew what was happening instantly. Angemon was gathering energy so that he could end Devimon's reign, so that he could kill Devimon.

"No," he whispered. "Wait a little longer."

"That light is so bright! What are you doing to me?" Devimon demanded. The digimon de-digivolved into their Rookie forms as the energy was given to Angemon, and Tai felt his eyes go wide as he understood what was happening, and why the Sovereign was trying to be heard. TK looked at him in concern.

"Stop it! I'm not going to allow you to take my power away!" Devimon ordered. "You'll have to fight me!"

"I'm afraid I have no other choice!" Angemon told him. "If I can help others my fate is unimportant!"

"Angemon!" TK cried. Tai echoed his call a beat behind TK, but added more on.

"She doesn't want you to do this!"

"This is my choice," Angemon said gently. He turned back to Devimon. "Your powers have gotten far out of control and must be extinguished. I am ready to fight for peace."

"No," Tai gasped. He took a deep breath, as much as he could with broken ribs, and screamed at the top of his lungs: "PHOENIXMON!"

"_Hand of Fate!_"

The energy that Angemon had been gathering collected in his right hand, and with one punch a beam of golden light blasted through Devimon's chest and caused his body to disintegrate into data particles. However, the amount of energy that Angemon had used resulted in him also disintegrating into data particles. White light blasted across the island, and out towards the other islands so that File Island could be remade.

"You have used up all your power," Devimon observed. "That wasn't very smart Angemon. Now you're no use to anyone. You can't get away from the dark forces, evil is everywhere, so don't savour your victory. There are other digimon just as powerful as I am; some of them are even stronger. I wonder what you'll do when you run into them. You haven't won at all! What a waste of time!"

The dark data particles of Devimon suddenly moved in another direction. The dark digimon turned his head and spotted the cold eyes of the Sovereign. His eyes went wide, and just before he completely disappeared his cry of denial sprung from his lips, and echoed long after he was gone. The Sovereign held up her hands as if she were holding on a ball, and the data particles came together to form a purple bell. She attached it to her ankle before hovering just in front of Angemon. She was about a head shorter than Angemon, or would have been if Angemon was whole.

_You didn't have to sacrifice yourself_

"I chose this," Angemon told her. "He couldn't be allowed to win, and we couldn't let you die for us again."

_You are sweet, but I do not need you to protect me_

"Will you look after TK for me?"

_TK will be safe. Rest now and I'll take care of everything_

Angemon nodded just as the last of him disappeared. The Sovereign held up her hands again, but instead of a bell being formed, she just held onto a blue ball of light. On the ground TK had burst into tears and was crying into Tai's chest. The boy didn't look up until he felt the heat of flames against his back. He turned, staring at the Sovereign who was holding the blue light out to him. TK looked at Tai first, before moving closer to the Sovereign and grabbing the ball. It pulsed in his hand before becoming a white egg with yellow stripes.

_Angemon will return to you, little one_

"He'll come back?" TK asked, holding the egg close to his chest.

_Yes, look after that egg and he'll be back in no time at all_

TK held onto the egg and promised that he would look after it. The Sovereign smiled at him before holding out her hand to Tai. Tai didn't move, but he did gasp when warmth flared out from his chest. The other children and digimon cried out as a white light pulsed from Tai's chest, but as soon as it was gone Tai knew what had happened. He pulled his shirt up in shock, staring at his now injury free chest. Even the bruises from day one had disappeared.

"You fixed my ribs," he breathed.

_You're welcome_

The others crowded around Tai and TK, looking at the crouched form of the Sovereign. She smiled at them all, before standing and moving away. TK called out to her in fear, but the Sovereign smiled at him over her shoulder.

_My energy is just about gone. Keeping Devimon from regenerating in this place, pulling Angemon's data together and healing took a lot out of me. I must return to my body before all is lost. We will see each other again_

The Sovereign leapt into the air and flew off towards the broken mansion Devimon had been calling his own. They watched her go before turning back to Tai curiously.

"What did you call her?" Sora asked. "Before Angemon attacked Devimon, you screamed out something."

"Phoenixmon," Tai readily agreed.

"That's the Sovereign's name?" Mimi asked curiously. "How did you know?"

"I don't know," Tai admitted. "I just…knew it."

"That's fascinating, but I think I'm missing something," Joe stated. "Return to her body? Why does no one else look surprised about that?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't here," Matt realised. "Well, the Sovereign, or Phoenixmon as she apparently is, and Jade are the same being. But due to an accident of some description, Jade doesn't remember being Phoenixmon. Phoenixmon, as we have seen her the past day or so, was an apparition with some physical attributes so that she can be felt. But now that the battle is over she's returning to her real body."

"We have to find her," Tai added. "Jade is weak at the moment, she won't know where she is or where we are."

"Let's find her then," TK stated. "She just helped to save us, and she brought us back together! We have to make sure that she's alright!"

The others agreed and stood with the intention of finding Jade. Before they could walk though, Sora noticed something and drew everyone's attention so that they could see it too.

"Look! The island is coming back together again!" she cried, pointing out towards the ocean.

"Exactly," Izzy told her. "Devimon's been defeated. When evil is eliminated the island returns to its normal state."

"What's with the other evil digimon across the sea?" Matt asked, staring at the reforming island.

"Yeah, I thought we were going home," Joe despaired.

"I don't want to have to fight again," Mimi told them all. "Oh, I think I broke a nail."

"Well, according to Leomon's legend we gotta do it!" Tai told them, his hands clenched showing how much he really didn't want to. "Remember, he said that we're the digidestined!"

As he uttered the last word the ground before them broke apart to reveal a metal device. As they watched the device lit up with all the colours of the rainbow, and from within the colours appeared an old man.

"Ah, I've heard of you kids," the old man muttered. "I have to say I'm pleased."

"Excuse me sir," Tai stuttered. "But who are you? And what do you want?"

"Me?" the old man repeated, blinking once. "I am Gennai."

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 9: Across the Ocean_**


	9. Across the Ocean

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies: _

_Eight children have appeared in the Digital World, seven who have a partner and one who has memories of the Digital World from her childhood. This child is Jade Potter. Together the group of eight humans and seven digimon (Digital Monsters) explore the island they arrived on, slowly making their way to the mountain in the middle, Infinity Mountain. One of the many dangers they come across is the Black Gears, evil discs that can make good digimon into dark digimon. After arriving on Infinity Mountain the group meet Devimon and are subsequently separated. Alone and adrift, the children all make their way back to their friends. Tai and Matt have found each other, as has Mimi and Izzy. Protecting them from harm is the fabled Sovereign, protector of all digimon. It is revealed that Jade has been to the Digital World before and was once the Sovereign, though how that came to be is still a mystery._

_Devimon has been defeated, but at a cost. Angemon was deleted, having used up too much of his power, but the Sovereign - Phoenixmon - was able to gather his data and recreate him as a digi-egg. And now, moments before the children were to search for Jade, who is still missing, a strange man has appeared claiming to be Gennai..._

Chapter 9: Across the Ocean

* * *

Tai's eyes widened as the old man introduced himself. He must have made a sound as well for everyone turned to look at him in curiosity. Sora and Matt were the only two who figured out the reason for Tai's reaction, and looked back to Gennai to try and link him to the Gennai in Jade's dreams.

"You're the man who saved Jade, aren't you?" Tai asked. "When she was six?"

"Ah, she told you about me then?" Gennai asked. "Such a sweet kid, is she not with you at the moment?"

"No, she's further up the mountain and we were about to grab her when you popped up," Tai replied. "So you are the same Gennai?"

"I can't believe it," Sora stated. "There are actually other humans besides us in this world."

"I am human," Gennai told her, his eyes turning so that he was looking right at her and ignoring Tai's question. "And yet, I am not human."

"This is confusing," Mimi muttered. Gennai looked at her quickly before his eyes rested again on Tai. Tai stared back, slightly nervous under the old man's gaze, before thinking back on what Jade had written to him.

"You were human though," he said. "But something happened that changed you?"

"Very good," Gennai praised. "I would expect nothing less from the digidestined. You must be strong as well, to have defeated Devimon. As you now know, I am Gennai. I couldn't send this transmission during your battle with Devimon, but now the lines are clear and only ten cents a minute."

"Where are you?" Izzy asked curiously. "And why haven't we seen you before? Are there others like you around?"

"I am speaking to you from far away from File Island, across the ocean on the continent of Sever. You have never seen me before because File Island has been in a dark zone of non-communication since Devimon took over. Nothing could get in, and nothing could get out. There are others like me around the Digital World; it is too big a place for just me to oversee."

"Talk about a long distance call," Sora mused. "How long have you been here?"

"Since before the beginning, and until after the end," was the cryptic response.

"Are you the one who got us stuck here in the Digital World?" Mimi asked. "Or was it one of your friends?"

"It was not I."

"Then who was it?" Mimi asked again.

"It was…" Gennai began, trailing off thoughtfully. "I don't know."

"But Mr Gennai sir, do you know what we need to do so that we can all get back home again?" TK asked hopefully, his arms wrapped tightly around his egg.

"No, I don't."

"Boy, you're a regular fountain of information aren't you?" Tai muttered. "Jade used to say that you had answers for everything."

"I'm sorry I can't help you," Gennai told him, sincere in his regret. "But you can be of help to me."

"How?" the reply was a mixture of wariness, excitement and reluctance. All they wanted to do was go home, but apparently they wouldn't be able to do so anytime soon.

"Please come to Sever and defeat our enemy. As the digidestined I have faith in all of you."

"That's crazy when we don't know your exact location," Izzy said, already shaking his head.

"Good point, I forgot you're from out of town. Let me create a map for you on your computer."

"What if you're enemies are humungazoid?" Joe mused with a hint of panic in his voice. Izzy looked over his shoulder at his laptop with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Do you think we can beat anything tougher than Devimon?"

"Not presently," Gennai told him. "But if your digimon can digivolve once more you might be able to do it."

"So we can digivolve even more?" Agumon asked excitedly. Gennai nodded slowly.

"But you'll need something special to do it," Gennai's image faded and a picture of a necklace and a crest appeared. "If you have the tags and crests, your digimon will be able to digivolve even further."

"Please tell us where we can find these tags and crests," Gabumon requested with stars in his eyes.

"Well, the crests are scattered about, you can locate them throughout the continent of Sever. And the tags were secretly sealed away somewhere by Devimon."

"Great," Tai muttered again. "I'm going to look for Jade, this is a waste of time."

"Does she remember anything?" Gennai asked to his retreating back. Tai paused and looked over his shoulder.

"No, but it's only a matter of time. Phoenixmon was clear about that."

"Phoenixmon?" Gennai repeated, his eyes going wide. "You must get her to Server as soon as you can. She isn't safe on File Island anymore. In fact, _you_ must get off File Island as soon as you can as well. With the communication blackout lifted _He_ will be there soon and you are not ready to face _Him_."

At that moment the transmission started to collapse. Gennai put as much desperation into his voice to get Tai to believe him, that File Island wasn't safe anymore. Tai nodded once in his direction and then the old man disappeared. The children were silent as they registered the terror that had been present in Gennai's voice.

"I'm going after Jade," Tai suddenly announced, breaking the silence. "Let's meet on the outskirts of the Primary Village in a couple of hours."

"I know the perfect place!" TK stated excitedly. "Me and Patamon landed there when the island broke."

"Great," Tai said with a nod. "Let's go Agumon. The sooner we leave the sooner we can all be together again."

"Why are we splitting up?" Joe asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense if we all go together?"

"I won't be long," Tai promised. "And I'll be back with Jade."

"Oh, Tai," Sora sighed. "When will you believe that this isn't your fault?"

"I don't think I ever will," Tai told her, turning and walking off. "See you in a few hours!"

The remaining six children watched as Tai disappeared with Agumon with confusion and curiosity. Izzy sat down against the rocky cliff and opened his laptop to see if Gennai's email came through. Tentomon sat next to him, staring at the screen and ignoring the others.

"Gennai's transmission ended rather abruptly," Tentomon stated. Izzy h'mmed his agreement as his fingers tapped away at the keyboard.

"Well, at least he was able to send this map to me before he got cut off."

"I hope he's alright," Sora added, her eyes following Tai's progress. "What's our next move going to be?"

"Let's go to the lake!" TK suggested. "And we can get dinner ready so when Tai and Jade get back there will be food for them! I bet everyone's hungry!"

"I am," Gomamon admitted. "That battle really took it out of us."

"Stupid Tai," Matt muttered. "Ok, let's go to the lake. You remember the way TK?"

"How will Tai and Agumon find us again?" Mimi asked nervously. "Shouldn't we wait here for them?"

"Agumon will know where we are," Palmon told her partner. "We digimon can always find each other."

"Agumon mentioned that once," Joe remembered. "What did he mean?"

"Well, ever since we hatched we've always been able to find each other," Biyomon explained. "It's like there's an echo in the back of our minds that points to where everyone is. When Angemon was deleted, his echo got really weak. We can barely feel it now, but when he hatches I'm positive that his echo will return as well."

"Huh," Sora observed. "That's pretty cool."

The digimon all looked at each other before nodding. Working together they were able to get the children moving off Infinity Mountain and down towards the Primary Village. They spoke about their individual adventures on the broken off island fragments, and hypothesised to the identity of Gennai's enemy across the ocean. But the one thing they all couldn't figure out was: who was the _Him_ that Gennai was afraid of?

* * *

Tai and Agumon walked in silence, but Tai knew that Agumon was itching to ask him questions about what had just happened. But Tai was preoccupied with what Devimon had said to him. What power did he have inside of him? Strange things happened to him when he was particularly angry or scared, but the rarity that it happened helped him to erase it from his memory.

Only twice could he recall something. The first was after Kari had gotten sick with pneumonia. He had been so scared and afraid, and his parents had been so angry with him, that he hadn't visited her until it looked like she wouldn't make it. He remembered visiting her, holding her hand and wishing that she would get better so that he could apologise to her, when warmth flowed from his body into hers. He went home after that, feeling tired and weak. Four days later Kari came home.

The second time something had happened he had been so angry, so full of hate, that the boys who had been bullying Kari were nearly killed when a tree crashed down on top of them. The three boys had cornered Kari in the park when Tai appeared and saw what was happening. He ran towards them, ordering the boys to leave his sister alone, when the tree nearest them simply fell and buried them. Tai's anger had disappeared quickly, and both he Kari had screamed for help. The three bullies were injured, but they would live. They never bullied anyone after that though.

"Hey, Tai?" Agumon asked. "Why didn't you want the others to go with us?"

"What?" Tai mumbled, pulled from his thoughts. "Oh, it's kind of selfish."

"Is it because you feel responsible for Jade?"

"Partly," Tai admitted. "But I also wanted to just be alone for a while without the others asking questions. Devimon told me a few things that left me thinking, things I don't quite understand."

"Is this about the power that Devimon said you had?" Agumon asked. "We know that you have power Tai. Not as much as Jade, but more than what the other kids have."

"What?"

"Each of you has a power inside of you. If I were to put it in order of strongest to weakest it would be: Jade, you, Izzy, TK, Matt, Joe, Sora and then Mimi. Does that shock you?"

"Yeah," Tai admitted. "I mean, I've never thought about it quite like that before. This power that we all have, could that be the reason why we were chosen to save this world?"

"I suppose, no one else could help us to digivolve. We use the power inside you to digivolve so that we can protect you. It's like…we're an extension of you. I can't really explain it very well."

"So we'll figure it out, together," Tai promised. "Now, do you have any idea where Jade is?"

Agumon smirked and altered their course slightly so that they were taking a more direct path up the mountain. The dinosaur digimon explained that even though they hadn't grown up with Jade, she did have a faint presence that they were able to follow. He likened it to how Patamon felt in his digi-egg. The closer they were to the egg, the stronger the echo in their minds. With Jade, her presence was like a warm light or a fire on a cold day. They would always be able to find her.

At the ruins of Devimon's castle the travelling duo ran into Leomon. Leomon apparently had the same idea as Tai but he had followed Phoenixmon to where Jade was. Phoenixmon was standing a short distance away but she smiled when she saw that Tai and Agumon were the two who had searched for her. Tai rushed over to help, and together they moved aside the leaves of a fallen tree to reveal the unconscious form of Jade.

Wearing nought but a singlet and shorts, and shivering slightly in the cool air, Jade looked impossibly young. Her hair pooled around her head without a care, and beneath her closed eye lids her eyes darted in every direction. Tai rested his hand on her forehead, frowning as he felt the heat of a fever through his gloves. He looked up to Phoenixmon.

"She's sick," he said unnecessarily. "Will she get sick every time you appear?"

_No, I have been apart from her for too long and her body is fighting alone_

"Will she remember these past few days?" Agumon asked.

_In her dreams she will see, but otherwise the last thing she will remember is Devimon attacking her_

"Will we see you again, My Lady?" Leomon asked curiously. Phoenixmon looked at him with a smile on her face.

_The time will come when Jade and I become one again, and fight to preserve this world. That day, however, is not today_

"Until we meet again then," Leomon replied with a smile of his own. Phoenixmon nodded before her form burst into flames. Tai and Agumon shouted in alarm, especially when the flames settled over Jade's form, seeping into her skin. Jade took a deep breath and stopped shivering once the flames were absorbed into her body. After hesitating a mere moment, Tai lifted Jade into his arms and held her close to his chest.

"What is your plan now?" Leomon asked.

"Gennai is asking for our help on the continent of Server," Tai explained, standing up. "He also begged us to get Jade off this island as soon as possible. Something about _Him_ knowing that she was here."

"I see," Leomon stated. "Well, a raft would be your best bet. I will see if I can recruit some more digimon to help you."

"Thank you," Tai said, bowing his head. "We'll probably start mid-morning tomorrow. I think we deserve a sleep in. Let's go Agumon."

"Take care of her," Leomon requested after he started to walk away. "That girl in your arms is very important to us, to all of us."

"I will," Tai promised. He continued moving, allowing Agumon to lead the way in silence. There was a flush to Jade's cheeks now, with the rest of her face very pale. He knew, without a doubt, that she was sick. He hoped that it wasn't pneumonia, as young and scrawny as she was, she could die because of it.

"She doesn't look too good Tai," Agumon eventually said.

"I know."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know Agumon," Tai said softly. "I hope so."

Agumon stared sadly at the girl in Tai's arms. He was feeling tired now, his energy levels low after the fight with Devimon, but he knew that he needed to get Tai and Jade to safety before he could allow himself to rest.

* * *

It was dark when Tai, Agumon and Jade made it to the waterfall where the others were waiting for them. Jade hadn't opened her eyes, but she had shifted in Tai's arms so that her hands were scrunched up in his shirt. Despite the fever she was running she was shivering and searching for warmth. While Tai's expression didn't change beyond concern, but on the inside he was panicking. When they finally reached the others, Joe took one look at Jade and Tai's expression before darting over.

He wrapped Jade in her blanket as soon as she was on the ground and had Sora wet a wash cloth so that they could cool Jade down. While he worked, Tai sat by Jade's side and explained what Phoenixmon and Leomon had told him. While he was talking the other digimon gave Agumon something to eat, and Mimi brought something over to Tai, glaring at him until he ate. Tai hesitated in his story, but started to eat under Mimi's glare and continued.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Matt asked. Everyone had formed a circle around Jade, their eyes focused on her even if they thought about the future. Whatever they decided would affect her. Stay…or go?

"It's obvious isn't it?" Sora asked him. "We have to go to Server to save Gennai from his enemies."

"Well, according to my calculations of longitude and latitude," Izzy began. His computer was open on his lap as he studied the email Gennai had sent him. "I'd say Server was quite some distance from here."

"I can't even swim across the bathtub, never mind an ocean," Mimi admitted softly. "I'll never make it."

"Why do we have to go anyway?" Joe asked, looking up briefly from Jade. "What I mean is, Devimon's gone from this island. All the Black Gears have disappeared too. We've been once around the island so we pretty much know where everything is. We wouldn't have to worry about food or water."

"What are you saying?" Sora asked.

"Why should we believe what this weirdo Gennai guy says?" Joe asked her. "What I mean is, how can we be sure this place, Server, really exists?"

"What are you thinking?" Tai demanded of him. "If we hang around here guys, we'll never get back home."

"I don't know guys," Sora started. "Devimon nearly got us. Maybe we shouldn't go, at least we know what we're up against over here."

"And even if we wanted to go," Izzy said closing his computer. "What mode of transportation could we utilize?"

"We don't even know what the fashions like on Server," Mimi added. Joe nodded to her, even though all could tell that fashion was far from his mind.

"Maybe we should stay here a while longer and think things through," Matt suggested.

"What's with you, man?" Tai asked.

"I don't think setting out to sea would be a good idea right now Tai," Joe said, drawing attention to himself again. "Jade is really sick. Going to Server now would kill her."

"Don't say that!" Tai ordered. "Jade will not die!"

"How do you suggest getting to Server?" Izzy asked.

"Leomon offered to help us build a raft," Tai stated, still angry. "And just to say it, I trust Gennai when he says that Jade can't stay here. So if it's just me and Jade who go, then so be it."

"Let's go!" TK voted. "We don't know what kind of danger will be waiting for us, but let's see! I'm sure Angemon would say the same thing if he were still around. So I'm going with Tai and Jade!"

"If we have the tags and crests," Agumon said looking up at Tai loyally. "We'll be able to digivolve again, right? Once we transform into our new shapes we'll be able to protect you for sure!"

The digimon were particularly excited about the prospect of digivolving further, and in their own way encouraged their partners that going was a good idea. The only one who wasn't convinced was Joe, but that was because he didn't think moving Jade was a good idea. Tai didn't want to move her either, but Jade trusted Gennai and therefore Tai trusted the old man. If the old man said that it was paramount that Jade gets off File Island as soon as possible, then Tai would get Jade off File Island as soon as possible.

After a staring contest with Joe, which Joe lost, Tai ordered everyone to get some sleep. They would start building a raft mid-morning.

Tai lay down to sleep next to Jade, and for all intents and purposes ignored the other children and digimon. He didn't think that he'd be alright until Jade opened her eyes and told him that she forgave him for leaving her alone. As he drifted off to sleep he whispered into her ear: "I'm sorry Jade."

* * *

Jade was floating in darkness. She was so cold, but her face felt like it was on fire. A while ago warmth had returned briefly, like a blanket covering her, but she was still lost and alone. She didn't want to wake up, because that meant that Devimon would continue hurting her. But she wanted to know what had happened to her friends. Were the still apart? Had they found each other? Would they find her? Would they _want_ to find her?

Voices floated over and around her, making no sense at all, but they comforted her. When the voices fell silent, there was someone holding her hand. She gathered that she must have been rescued from Devimon's clutches, but had no idea how, or why. Her hand held onto the one holding her, but still her eyes didn't open. And then words she recognised brushed her conscious mind.

"I'm sorry Jade."

Her eyes snapped open as she sat up quickly. Her head snapped in all directions, looking for a threat that wasn't there. Her eyes found each of her friends, most of who were sleeping, and slowly she started to calm down. She looked at her hand to see who was next to her, and her gaze softened when she recognised that Tai was looking out for her. He was still asleep, and he looked exhausted.

"It's good to see you awake Jade."

Jade turned slightly so that she was looking at Gabumon. He walked over and sat next to her feet, smiling as he moved. Jade reached out with her free hand and rested it on Gabumon's nose. Her smile of relief as she made contact made Gabumon chuckle.

"I am real," he promised her. "The others have been worried about you, a lot. Particularly Tai, he went off on his own to get you back."

"Devimon?" Jade asked in a whisper.

"Destroyed," Gabumon said simply. "We defeated him with the help of the Sovereign. Oh, and Patamon digivolved in Angemon. It's a great story, and once you're feeling better we'll tell you about it. You should go back to sleep. We won't let anything happen to you."

Jade smiled and lay back down. She found that she was still cold so she rolled onto her side and snuggled up to Tai's chest. His heart beat gave her comfort and before she could think about it she was asleep. Gabumon readjusted her blanket so that it covered the two of them before returning to Matt's side.

"How's she doing?" Matt asked sleepily.

"She'll be fine."

Matt nodded at the reassurance and returned to his dreams. Gabumon made eye contact with each digimon conscious, reassuring them as well that all was well. For the rest of the night they all slept peacefully, for the danger had now passed, and the future was uncertain.

* * *

"Tai, just because she's off the ground, doesn't mean she's better off!" Joe snapped the next morning. Tai looked at Joe in confusion, before over his shoulder to where Jade was perched on his back. She hadn't wanted to remain behind at the waterfall so Tai had carried her away. Her blanket was draped over her shoulders so that she would be kept warm, and her head rested on Tai's shoulder so that it would remain still.

"I don't understand," Tai admitted. "She's not moving, she's not alone, and she's warm. Of course she's better off."

"Tai, she's sick," Joe tried to explain, again. "She needs to be lying down and resting. We need to keep her fluids up so that she doesn't become dehydrated. She needs to sleep so that she'll recover quicker."

"Then she can sleep on the beach with TK while we chop down trees," Tai stated. "TK will look after her, make sure that she's not alone and that she keeps drinking."

Joe looked like he wanted to argue more, but by now everyone knew that it was a lost cause. When Tai was determined to do something, there was little anyone else could do about it. When he and Jade were determined to do something, there was nothing that anyone else could do about it. TK skipped off with Tai happily enough, already telling Jade all about his adventures in the Primary Village.

"Jade will be fine Joe," Sora told him. "Now come on guys, we have a raft to build!"

Building the raft didn't take as long as the children had assumed. With the help of Leomon and the other digimon they had encountered on their little adventure the raft was down by mid-afternoon. The smaller digimon had gathered food for the digidestined, while the others had helped rope the fallen trees together and make a mast so that they could travel without the use of oars.

Throughout the construction process, TK told Jade everything he knew from the time they were at the fake mansion to when Jade had woken up at the waterfall. Jade hadn't said a word the entire time she had been awake, much to everyone's concern, but it was the digimon who weren't worried. They knew that Jade just needed time to understand that it wasn't a dream and that she was safe with them.

Shortly after TK finished his story, the raft that the others had worked hard to make flew over their heads and landed in the water, keeping afloat easily. The digimon had hitched a ride on the raft, and were excitedly jumping up and down to test its balance.

"Hey, it really worked!" Matt cried happily as he and the others ran over to the water.

"Alright!" Tai added.

"It's hydrodynamicly sound," Izzy informed everyone.

"I think I'm getting sea sick already," Joe muttered, staring at the raft that was bobbing up and down gently. TK helped Jade walk over to the group where she leaned against Tai's side. Her eyes were fastened on the raft with a bit of fear.

"Get a grip Joe," Tai ordered. His eyes rested briefly on Jade before snapping back up again. His arm went around Jade's shoulders. "It'll have to do."

"Believe me, that raft is strong enough to get you across the ocean," Leomon promised as he walked up to the group. The children smiled up at him in gratitude.

"Thanks Leomon," Tai said for everyone. "We never could have done it without your help."

At that moment TK let out a cry of surprise. Everyone twisted around to look at him, only to notice that his gaze was fixed on his digi-egg. Cracks started to appear, and the joy on TK's face as he realised that his digi-egg was hatching was more than enough to make Jade smile as well as the other children. The top half of the egg broke apart into little pieces and a white ball of fluff popped out with a joyful greeting.

"Hi!"

"Digi-egg! You hatched!" TK said delightedly.

"How cute!" Mimi told him.

"That's great!" Sora added.

"Yay!" TK cried, spinning around in circles in joy. He held the white digimon close to his face in a hug. It was barely bigger than his hands, a real baby. All the while the digimon was calling out its own name, possibly the only thing that he could say in this form.

Poyomon.

"Poyomon is a jellyfish type digimon of few words," Tentomon explained for the other children. "But if his friends are in trouble he's ready for action."

Tai laughed happily before ushering everyone onto the raft. Jade clung to his side, her arms wrapped around his leg, but still waved at the digimon on the shore.

"This is goodbye," Leomon told them as they started to drift away.

"And good luck!" Elecmon added. Elecmon was the digimon who took care of all the baby digimon in the Primary Village. He, TK and Patamon had become friends whilst the digidestined were separated.

The digidestined waved and called out their own goodbyes, watching as File Island slowly became smaller and smaller. Jade made herself comfortable in the middle of the raft, as far from the water as she could get. Maybe on Server, if they had time, the older kids would be able to teach her how to swim. Tai and Sora went to the front of the raft, Tai with his mini telescope and Sora just so that she could see where they were going.

"I can't see anything," Tai admitted.

"I wonder how long this trip will take," Joe mused, walking so that he was just behind Tai. Tai turned to look at him.

"Chill out Joe, we just left."

"The salt air's killing my sinuses," Joe told him in return. "And we've only got enough food for two weeks."

"If we run out of food we'll catch some fish," Tai rebutted easily enough.

"Well, the one good thing is this is beautiful weather for sailing," Sora told the two boys.

The raft went up over huge swells, and Jade groaned as she held her head. The constant up and down sensation caused by the waves was making her feel sick. Mimi and Izzy were of a like mind, but no one else seemed to be suffering any ill effects of sailing. TK and Poyomon were having a grand old time near the back of the raft, ignoring everything that was happening.

Jade knew that she was going to throw up, as much as she hated the idea of it. She crawled to the edge of the raft any food that was in her stomach was instantly in the water. Joe appeared behind her, making sure that she stayed on the raft, and held her hair out of the way. When she was done, or felt like she was done, Jade leant back against Joe and allowed him to give her some water to clean her mouth.

"Do you feel better?" he asked softly.

"No," Jade murmured. "Are we there yet?"

"Not even close," Joe answered sadly. Jade groaned and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Joe carried her back to the safety of the middle of the raft, and sat beside her as the waves got bigger.

"Tidal wave!" Tai called out in warning. The children all screamed in horror as the raft was tossed aside easily. Jade clung to Joe so that she wouldn't end up in the water. Suddenly, she shivered as a familiar cold feeling washed over her. There was a Black Gear nearby.

"That had to be twelve feet tall!" Matt guessed.

"Eighteen point three to be exact," Izzy corrected.

"There's a Black Gear near us," Jade whispered to Joe. Joe repeated her statement, drawing attention to her shivering form. Matt cursed softly, drawing an outraged stare from TK for his language.

"This isn't good," Sora stated unnecessarily. "I thought that the Black Gears would be unique to File Island."

"It's a whale!" Tai cried as the water before them parted and a giant whale rose above the surface. The children clung to each other as the whale sunk beneath the surface and used its tail to create a splash that sent the small raft high into the air. The waves got worse, and as the raft landed back in the water, Jade was impressed that it hadn't broken apart.

"Whamon is a giant digimon who lives in the deep oceans of the Digital World," Tentomon explained, having flown into the air so that he wouldn't be hurt. "Its _Jet Arrows_ are unbelievable."

"It's going to eat us," Jade whimpered as Whamon appeared in front of them, jaws opened wide. With the current, the wind, and the forward motion of the raft, there was no escaping their fate. They were pulled in and sailed down his throat, the raft small enough that it didn't reach the sides of the oesophagus. The light disappeared as the jaws shut. With the rush of wind the children crowded around the mast, holding onto each other so that they wouldn't fall off.

"I hope we don't give him a sore throat!" Sora cried against the wind.

"Technically it's not the throat!" Izzy told her. "It's the oesophagus that leads to the stomach!"

"He thinks we're fast food!" Joe cried in despair.

"So he really did eat us!" Mimi wailed.

"Sooner or later this has to lead to an exit," Sora stated optimistically.

"It does," Izzy confirmed. "But you don't want to go there!"

Globs of water started to rain down on them, aiming for the raft but missing each time. Jade covered her ears and closed her eyes, ignoring everything that was going on around her. The feel of the Black Gear was getting closer, but while she knew that it wasn't Whamon's fault for attacking them, it didn't make her feel any better about it.

The raft became airborne again, but this time the room they ended up in had light in it. Jade slowly opened her eyes and looked around, her gaze travelling up as the surprisingly metallic interior of Whamon's stomach came to light.

"Finally, we stopped," Sora said in relief, letting go of Tai's waist. "Is everyone alright?"

"Where are we?" Joe asked, helping Jade to stand so that he could join the others in a more upright position.

"Anatomically speaking this would be the stomach," Izzy informed him. Jade wrinkled her nose and continued looking around. The Black Gear was close by. Gastric juices, the acid in the stomach that dissolved food, started to creep towards them and began attacking the wood on the raft.

"We're melting," TK cried in horror.

"Don't let it get on you," Tai ordered, his eyes darting around to make sure that everyone was away from the edges. Jade stared up at him, her eyes bright with the fever she still had and her cheeks flushed, but she pointed up to the roof of the stomach to where she had found the Black Gear. Everyone's eyes followed her pointed finger, a following that everyone gasped.

"Joe, do something!" Gomamon ordered.

"Why me?" Joe asked incredulously.

"Someone can climb on these!" Palmon suggested, before flinging her fingers out. "_Poison Ivy!_"

Vines grew from her fingers and wrapped around the Black Gear. Tai volunteered, and with a brief pat on Jade's head he was crawling along the vines to get to the Gear. Jade couldn't figure out why he wanted to climb up, nor could she figure out what he intended to do. She decided to help him by pushing back against the darkness. Together with Tai's digivice, the Black Gear shattered and Tai dropped back onto the raft.

The world around them glowed, and Jade let out a whimper in fear as the raft lurched upwards. She had a feeling about what was about to happen, and she was not looking forward to it at all. Moment later they were flying through the air, the raft in pieces, as they were forcefully thrown from Whamon's stomach out his blow hole. Jade screamed as she plunged under the water, her arms flaying about as she tried to get back to the surface.

Not able to find what way up was Jade struggled. She took in a deep breath of water just as arms wrapped around her stomach and wrenched her to the surface. Coughing harshly as her head broke the surface she clung to the person who had saved her. Her eyes locked on Tai's and noticed that he was really worried about her. He swum over to one of the logs left over from the raft and helped her cling to it so that she wouldn't sink. Agumon was already waiting, and he seemed to be really concerned with her as well.

Jade looked around to see if everyone else was alright. TK had been rescued by his brother and was sitting on top of his log with Matt floating near him to make sure that he remained balanced. Poyomon was in TK's hands, but it seemed that every other human and digimon was floating in the water and clinging to the logs so that they wouldn't sink. Jade felt her body shaking and she struggled taking in enough air so that she wouldn't pass out. Tai's arms around her helped her to ground herself.

"Tai, I'm scared," she whispered.

"I won't let you drown," Tai promised by whispering in her ear. "I've got you."

Whamon chose that moment to resurface closer to them, but at least now he wasn't trying to eat them. Mimi screamed in fear, still thinking that Whamon was a danger to them. Whamon didn't seem to be offended, in fact he seemed genuinely apologetic.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I must have had a tummy ache or something."

"It's okay," Biyomon called to him. "We all know it wasn't your fault."

"That's right," Sora added. "It was the Black Gear inside of you."

"Those Black Gears are rude," Tai continued, still holding Jade. "I bet that's the last one."

"I bet you're wrong!" Joe instantly countered.

"Thanks kids," Whamon said, much more cheerfully this time. "I owe you one."

"Don't mention it Whamon, it was our pleasure," Tai accepted courteously. "By the way, do you know how far it is to Server?"

"Yes, it would take me five days," Whamon stated. "Uh, make that three and a half without traffic."

Jade groaned pathetically. The thought of spending more time in the water depressed her, and with the raft broken it would take them so much longer to get to land. She knew that she would never make it. Tai rubbed her arm supportively, but she knew that he was worried as well.

"Are you going to Server?" Whamon asked.

"Yeah, we were trying to," Agumon replied.

"I'll take you there myself," Whamon told them. "It's not every day your lunch saves your life."

"Really?" Sora asked, not quite sure. Mimi on the other hand was ecstatic enough that she let go of the log she was holding onto to throw her arms in the air. Palmon pulled her back to the surface and then they all swam closer to Whamon as most of his body sunk beneath the surface. Standing on his back, the children clumped together as Whamon lifted himself a little bit more so that they could start to travel. Tai lifted Jade into his arms, and she was more than willing to stay curled up against his chest. The sooner they got to solid land the happier she would be.

Joe strolled over to them, his hand resting on Jade's back in warning before feeling her temperature. As she was still shaking, Jade knew that the older boy was deeply concerned about her physical health. She was still recovering from being Devimon's prisoner. He spoke with Tai, their voices kept low so as to not disturb the others, but Jade tuned them out so that she could work on calming down. She wasn't in the water anymore, and that meant that she was safe for the time being.

"This is great!" Sora cried from the front of the group.

"It sure is a whole lot faster and smoother than that raft!" Izzy agreed.

"This means I won't get sea sick!" Mimi added in delight.

"Now if we only knew where we could find those tags and those crests that Devimon hid somewhere," Tai stated with a frown. He and Joe joined the main group, drawing a lot of attention to Jade who was silent and shaking.

"Did you say 'Devimon'?" Whamon asked.

"Yeah, did you know him?" Tai asked. His normal-ish tone informed the others that they weren't to ask questions about Jade just yet…that and his protective hold of her.

"Well, I don't know anything about tags or crests, but a while ago Devimon hid something deep at the bottom of the ocean."

"Can you tell us where?" Tai asked again.

"It's on the way to Server," Whamon informed them. "You can all ride inside me and I'll take you there."

Jade cringed at the thought of being underwater again, but other than that she didn't make any hint of protest. The children and digimon slid down Whamon's blow hole when he opened it for them. It was like a giant slide, and while several of them screamed, only TK, Agumon and Gabumon seemed to enjoy the slide down. Tai didn't make a sound as he slid down with Jade, and Jade kept her eyes close so that she didn't have to look around.

Once they were all settled, Whamon dove under the water and kept diving at a steady rate. Ears popped, whimpers were heard, but no one complained. Joe used the time to talk with Jade, and make sure that she wouldn't panic on them. In all reality, Jade was more exhausted than anything. She would have been happy to go to sleep and stay asleep, but being under water, even if they were in the belly of a giant whale, kept adrenaline running through her veins and made it impossible for her to fall asleep.

Several hours later Whamon surfaced in an underwater cavern and opened his mouth so that they could walk out. Jade let out a sigh of relief once she was standing on dirt, and calmed down considerably when Whamon said that they would need to stay for a while.

"I'm so out of shape, I have to rest here a while. I gotta drop a couple thousand pounds."

"Thanks Whamon," Tai called as the whale slipped under the water to recover. Jade skipped a little, wanting to walk on her own, and the smile on her face made the others want to accommodate her wishes. TK skipped next to her, and soon they were racing each other through the underground tunnels, ignoring the call from behind for them to wait. They didn't stop until they spotted something that stood out in the darkness.

"What's that?" Joe asked as he appeared behind the two youngest in the group.

"A convenience store?" Tai told him in a questioning tone, as if he couldn't believe it himself. Jade walked a little further forward before gasping as she sensed another Black Gear rushing towards them. She staggered a little under the feeling, but was able to warn the others about the oncoming danger before the ground in front of them broke apart to reveal a giant purple and white digimon that looked like a mole. Its lower half was white, whilst the fur on top of it was purple, and aside from the sharp pointy teeth that were clearly visible, the horn that extended from its nose made for a deadly weapon. On top of its head was the Black Gear.

"Drimogemon lives deep inside the earth drilling tunnels," Tentomon explained quickly. "He uses his iron drill spin and crusher bone to wipe out his enemies."

"I knew that we hadn't seen the last of the Black Gears!" Joe cried in despair. "I warned you Tai!"

"It is Lord Devimon's will that no one shall pass!" Drimogemon growled at them.

Jade cringed at the darkness, hearing the digimon behind her promise the humans to take care of Drimogemon. Gomamon rushed forward first, digivolving into Ikkakumon as in that form he could combat Drimogemon's horn with his own. With the two digimon attacking each other, the others rushed passed them into the convenience store. Jade stopped at the entrance, letting the others start to search for the tags that they assumed would be in the store.

She pushed against the darkness of the Gear, helping Ikkakumon destroy it. Granted, the explosion almost caused a cave in with everyone in the store, but as soon as Drimogemon was free from its influence he disappeared down one of his tunnels, explaining to the digimon that the tags were in the store and was hidden behind the jerky. Jade looked behind her at where the other children were gathered, and noticed that they had already found a box that she assumed held their tags.

"They're just like the ones Gennai showed us during his transmission," Izzy remarked.

"Gennai?" Jade queried, almost silent. She was sure that she had heard wrong, when had the others met Gennai, and how had they heard about him? What transmission? She had assumed that Tai was the only one who knew the name of one of her saviours. Why wouldn't Gennai have contacted her? Did she not matter to him anymore? She bit her lip in worry, but otherwise made no motion to indicate she had heard Izzy.

"How pretty," Mimi declared as she accepted a tag as Matt handed them out. The box only contained seven tags, so Jade missed out on wearing one. It didn't really bother her, but it was another indication that she was different from the others. Her thoughts turned once again to why she was in the digital world. Sure, she had been on Tai's back at the time the portal opened, but there had to be another reason as to why she was in there at all. She had been to the digital world before she knew that beyond all doubt, but why? Why had the digimon and Gennai saved her when she was six?

"Jade, let's go," Tai called to her. Jade skipped to his side and he slung one of his arms around her shoulders. They walked back together to where Whamon was still resting, and they used the time to eat some food before they made their way to the surface again. Whamon didn't let them wait too long, and when they were once again safe in his belly they began to travel upwards. The change in air pressure was uncomfortable, and Jade knew that she wasn't the only one to appreciate the fresh air and warm sun when Whamon broke the surface and allowed them to ride on his back.

Riding on Whamon was a lot smoother than the raft, but still Jade would have liked to see some sort of landmass in the distance. She had no idea how Whamon knew which direction to go in because it looked the same to her in every direction.

"Remember what Gennai told us you guys," Matt spoke up. "The crests are hidden throughout the continent of Server."

"And if we get both the tags and the crests," Gabumon added excitedly.

"We'll all be able to digivolve once again," Agumon finished. Jade giggled softly, the excitement in all the digimon was almost infectious, and she had a feeling that the Black Gears were finally gone. She had no idea how she knew it, she just did.

"Then we'll just have to go out there and find the crests!" Tai declared. A resounding cheer echoed from behind him, and Jade grinned. They had a purpose now, and for the others it meant that they were one step closer to going home. For Jade, it meant that she was one step closer to finding out her purpose.

She couldn't wait.

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 10: Courage or Insanity?_**


	10. Courage or Insanity?

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_The digidestined and Jade have left File Island and are currently traveling to the continent of Server. The only thing they need to do is gather the seven crests that are scattered throughout Server, and once they have the crests their digimon partners will be able to digivolve to the Ultimate level. Their mode of transport is the giant whale digimon, Whamon._

_The digidestined are about to come up against their greatest challenge yet. Will they have the strength to overcome it? The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 10: Courage or Insanity?

* * *

The following five days were like a never ending nightmare. To make time pass as quickly as possible, Jade took to sleeping as much as she could. This also helped her to shake her lingering fever, and helped her to regain her strength so that when they did arrive she would be practically healthy again.

As they were riding a giant whale, the motion of the waves wasn't as pronounced as it had been on the raft. No one threw up, though for the first day there were a few queasy faces until they became adjusted to Whamon's movements. Izzy worked on his computer and drew a map on a sheet of paper so that they wouldn't have to constantly turn on the computer to determine where they were or where they needed to be.

Sora usually sat with Jade and TK, telling stories about their world, as well as some fairy-tales that Jade had never heard before. At night they would watch the stars, or Jade would, as the others usually slept once the sun went down. The stars were constant, and Jade attempted to memorise them so that she would always have a point of reference to guide her if she was separated from the others.

On the fifth morning after they had left File Island, Tai woke them all up in excitement saying that he could see land. The only one who wouldn't wake was Mimi, but that was because she was having a good dream. Jade was almost jumping in excitement as she identified mountains and rocky shores in the distance instead of endless ocean.

Whamon got them as close as possible to the shore so that they could slide off his back. Tai and Agumon jumped first, and Jade followed close behind with a cry of delight. She was caught before she hit the ground, but Jade didn't mind and instead turned to watch the others slide down with various degrees of enjoyment. Some, like TK, enjoyed the slide a lot, but others, like Mimi, couldn't slide without screaming in fear. Mimi actually needed help to get off, and that help came when Whamon moved to dislodge her. Izzy caught her before she hit the ground, and it was with blushing red faces that the two separated and pretended that nothing had happened.

After Whamon left them on the shore, making a giant splash with his tail as he dove under the water, the children looked at each other. Even though it had taken five days to make the journey, they hadn't actually discussed what they would do, or how they would get the crests. They didn't even know where the crests were hidden.

"So what are we going to do now?" Mimi asked first.

"While you were asleep, Whamon told us where we could go," Palmon told her. Jade looked at the plant digimon curiously. She must have been asleep at that time as well. Palmon continued, "A few miles from here is a Koromon village."

"Koromon?" Mimi asked. "Why, that somehow sounds familiar."

"I was a Koromon the day you got here," Agumon told her, and Jade giggled at the slightly offended tone he used.

"I forgot!" Mimi stated with a clap of delight.

"The Koromon are a group of digimon who are always willing to help out a digimon in need," Tentomon cut in before Agumon could say something hurtful.

"Okay gang!" Tai decided. "Let's move out!"

Jade cheered with everyone else before running ahead. She was thrilled to be back on solid land, and her obvious enjoyment kept the others from trying to stop her. Not even the hot sand beneath her feet could stop her from jumping, skipping and twirling without a care in the world. Conversations started behind her, but she didn't care about what they were saying. She wasn't surprised when the complaints of the heat reached her ears, or how long it was taking them to walk to where the Koromon village was.

All around them was a hot desert, but according to Palmon the Koromon village was in the shade of a forest. Jade couldn't see a forest anywhere near them, but she knew that if they kept walking they would get there eventually. Agumon eventually convinced Jade to hop onto his shoulders. He reasoned that if the other kids were complaining about the heat, then Jade's bare feet would be burning. Jade allowed him to carry her, but not before she sighed in disappointment. Her feet were getting hot, but she didn't really mind. She had actually developed a tan during their travels, first from doing nothing but sunbaking on Whamon's back and then from walking across the desert. She looked healthy, even if she still didn't look like a nine-year-old, but that was changing.

Agumon stopped suddenly, lifting his nose and sniffing the air excitedly. Voices called out from behind them, asking what Agumon was detecting, and Agumon turned back with a grin and pointed off to the right of their current path.

"I smell Koromon over in that direction," he explained.

"Really?" Tai asked with equal excitement. He rushed up the side of a nearby dune and pulled his mini telescope from his pocket, aiming it in the direction Agumon had pointed. "A forest!"

"A forest?" the others asked behind him.

"Is that where the Koromon village is?" Matt asked.

"Must be!" Tai told him before rushing forward. Agumon ran after him, excited to see what he considered to be his brothers. The others ran after them with calls to wait up, but they didn't stop running until they reached the shade of the trees. Jade slid off Agumon's back now that the ground was cooler and walked up the front of the group.

The trees were clumped close together, but it kept the sun from baking the ground. Mimi was particularly glad that they were in the shade as getting sunburnt would ruin her complexion. Palmon and Gomamon also seemed to appreciate the shade, though Gabumon claimed that it was still a little warm for him. Jade actually felt sorry for him, his fur coat would have been a life saver in a cold climate, but the heat of the desert and the humidity in the trees wasn't helping him at all.

All of a sudden the trees disappeared, and it was like stepping into a hidden valley. The trees of the forest surrounded a little village like a security fence, keeping unwanted visitors out, but at the same time made the little village appear homely and safe. Jade grinned and was about to run after Mimi, who was hoping for a bath, but stopped when she heard Agumon make a sound of confusion and worry. Tai asked him what was wrong.

"Something's doesn't feel right," he explained. Jade quickly looked back to Mimi who was on her own, and sprinted after her before any could stop her. Palmon was by her side and they managed to catch up to Mimi as she stopped in front of several small digimon who were definitely not Koromon.

"These are Pagumon," Palmon explained. "There are definitely more to them than meets the eye."

"Where are the Koromon?" Jade asked curiously. The Pagumon were little grey digimon with red eyes and floppy ears. They looked fairly mischievous, and Jade would have also claimed they were nervous at her question. They surrounded both her and Mimi, knocking Palmon to the ground, and carried them off. Mimi cried for help, but Jade said nothing as she studied the digimon. They were definitely nervous, but their behaviour didn't seem malicious.

They were carried to a tower and Mimi gave a cry of delight as she spotted a bath. Within moments of the Pagumon putting her down, she was stripping off her clothes, dumping them in a nearby basket, and eagerly sliding into the hot and steamy water in front of them.

"Come on Jade, the water is wonderful," Mimi told her. Jade bit her lip nervously, but she couldn't deny that having a bath would be nice.

"Is it deep?" she asked. Mimi looked at her with a smile.

"Nope, it only comes up to my waist," she explained. "And there's a seat here so that we can relax."

Jade placed her back pack in another basket before stripping down, folding her clothes to rest on top of her bag, before sliding in next to Mimi who grinned at her happily. From behind them Jade could hear the others calling for them, and she wondered what thoughts were running through their minds. She also knew that it wouldn't be long before they barged in on them, so she sunk down on the seat in the bath, the water coming to her shoulders, and turned to see who would come in.

"No Tai! Don't go in there!" Sora suddenly cried. The curtain that was separating the bath from the area the two girls had stripped in was suddenly wrenched open to reveal Tai. The boy had frozen as soon as he saw that she and Mimi were naked in a bath, and his face went a vibrant red. Izzy appeared next to him, his face turning red as well. Jade giggled, alerting Mimi to the fact they had an audience. Mimi quickly covered herself as she turned, her own face going red in embarrassment.

"Ah! Haven't you two ever heard the phrase 'knock before entering'?" she screamed at them.

"We're here to rescue you!" Tai replied, moments before Mimi threw a bowl at him. A bottle of shampoo was thrown at Izzy and the two boys disappeared out of sight as Sora closed the curtain again. Jade giggled before sliding deeper into the water, being careful to keep her head above the surface.

Once the boys were gone, with the warning not to go back in until all three girls came back out, Sora joined Mimi and Jade in the bath. The two older girls teamed up to play with Jade's hair, washing it and braiding it, before doing the same with their own hair. By the time they got out of the bath, not only were they squeaky clean, but their hands and feet were all pruned. They dried themselves before getting dressed again, before they went outside so that the boys could have a bath if they so desired. Tai and Izzy couldn't look at Jade or Mimi without blushing, but Jade just thought that it was funny.

That night, the Pagumon threw a party for their guests. The Pagumon danced as much as they could for digimon with no arms or legs, presented them with fresh foods, and sung catchy songs. Jade couldn't help but listen to the Pagumon, their way of speaking was only slightly creepy and the way they were behaving was almost too nice to be real. There was something fake about them, but Jade had no idea of what it could be.

"This is definitely a Pagumon village," Gabumon told Agumon, who he was sitting next to at dinner. Jade was sitting on Agumon's other side, staring at the Pagumon curiously.

"Something's wrong here Gabumon," Agumon replied. "I know what I smelled was Koromon. I bet my nose on it."

Food was presented before them, and it seemed that everyone aside from Jade and Sora were completely at ease. Sora was concerned about the village being a trap, but Tai dismissed her concerns in favour of eating. While Jade wasn't convinced of a trap, she agreed with Sora that there was something going on.

"This is really strange," Tentomon was saying to Gomamon. "I've heard that Pagumon are awful pranksters."

"You were just hearing an awful rumour," Gomamon dismissed easily enough. Something about that sentence seemed familiar to Jade, but she had no idea of what it might be. Who had she known who was known as a prankster?

"Poyomon digivolve to – Tokomon!"

Jade turned slightly as she felt the baby digimon digivolve. She smiled brightly as congratulations were called out, and Tokomon's happiness at being one step closer to normal almost covered over a different emotion, this one from the Pagumon. She couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but it made her nervous.

After dinner, the children and digimon all curled up in the same room, but for Jade the rest was not peaceful at all. She tossed and turned all night, shadows calling to her from the edges of her mind, and cold laughter chilling her to the bone. So it wasn't really a surprise when she woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. She looked around quickly, checking to see if everyone was still in the room with her. Her worry only increased when she noticed that Tokomon was missing.

Without waking the others she crept out of their room and looked around to see if Tokomon was anywhere nearby. She cocked her head to the side, trying to hear anything over the soft snores of her companions or the breathing of the Pagumon. A strange sound caught her ears, one that sounded like Tokomon, but it was too far away to make out. So, she walked in the direction the sound had come from.

The darkness made the trail she was following scary, and she considered going back to the warmth of the village, but she knew that she would never be able to forgive herself if she didn't find Tokomon. She had a feeling that he was in danger, and since he was also he would also be scared. Being alone and scared was the worst feeling that Jade could think of, and she had felt like that so often in her childhood that she knew she didn't want others to go through that if she could prevent it.

The path that she was following led almost directly out of the village, and under the light of the moon Jade could just faintly make it out when she turned around to see how far she had gone. She hoped that she and Tokomon would be back before the sun rose, because otherwise the others would never find them. Shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts, Jade turned back and picked up the speed a little whilst trying to also stay as silent as possible. She could feel them ahead of her, the Pagumon, though she had no idea how. Tokomon's fear, however, was like a beacon to her now, and she knew that she had to hurry.

"What did I do?! Why are you picking on me?!"

Jade ducked as Tokomon's panicked voice reached her. She ducked into the trees and crept closer still until she spotted a group of fourteen Pagumon surrounding a tied up Tokomon.

"Because you digivolved," one Pagumon told him with a malicious grin.

"You were so easy to fool," said another. "What a bunch of losers!"

"What do you think you're doing?" that came from above the Pagumon. Jade's eyes moved upwards until she spotted three rabbit like digimon who resembled the Pagumon slightly. She figured that these digimon were the digivolved form of the Pagumon.

"Gazimon!" the Pagumon cried in horror.

"Where did that Tokomon come from?" one of the Gazimon asked. Jade frowned. There was fear coming from the Pagumon now, and it was clear to her that they were afraid of the larger digimon…but why?

"Well, this Tokomon came to the village with some humans," one Pagumon explained. "But I–"

"There are humans here?!" the same Gazimon interrupted. They looked at each other without saying a word. Clearly, they hadn't known that the digidestined had arrived on Server, which was a good thing as it meant the Pagumon weren't trying to separate them for some malicious reason, but they knew now so the plan that the Pagumon had was now bound to change. Jade knew that she should return to the others to let them know what she had found out, but the thought of leaving Tokomon alone prevented her from moving.

The Pagumon picked up Tokomon again as the Gazimon ordered them to keep the humans in the village. The Gazimon left and Jade continued to follow the Pagumon to a waterfall, where she waited for the Pagumon to leave again. She planned on going in once they were gone to free Tokomon, and then they would be back with the others before dawn.

That plan failed the moment she stepped out of her hiding place. The Pagumon hadn't gone far from the waterfall, and she had the misfortune of being spotted and surrounded before she could blink. She was tied up like Tokomon had been in moments and being carried to the waterfall. There was a collection of cages, much to Jade's apprehension, but she was glad that she was put into the same cage as Tokomon.

The Pagumon left, bragging about someone named Etemon and how he was going to crush them all. Jade glared at them until they disappeared before turning her attention to Tokomon. He burrowed into her side, crying and shaking, and Jade wished that her arms were free so that she could hug him. Instead, she lay on her side and curled her body around Tokomon protectively.

"I don't like it here Jade!" Tokomon wailed. "I want to get out of here!"

"Me too," Jade told him. "But don't worry, once the others wake and see that we're not there, they'll come searching for us."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Jade looked up around the back of the cave, trying to see what was in the other cages. All she could make out in the darkness were red eyes, but she wasn't afraid. She could tell that the red-eyed digimon were just as scared as Tokomon. She bit her lip before asking Tokomon to bite into her ropes so that they could get out. Tokomon's teeth were sharp, and only once did he bite into her skin instead of the rope, but eventually the rope came off. Jade dismissed Tokomon's apologies, not blaming him at all, and worked at freeing him of his ropes.

Once that was done she studied the lock on the cage. Her lock picking tools were in her backpack, which was still in the village, but she had been able to break locks before by staring and wishing really hard. She reached through the bars and concentrated, focusing all her attention on the lock before her. She wanted it to break, no, she needed it to break.

Jade had no idea how long she sat there for, but she knew that she had succeeded when there was small 'bang' and the lock crumbled in her hands. She gave a cry of delight and quickly opened the cage for her and Tokomon. Then she ran to the back of the cave where the other cages were. She noticed that much time had passed, for now she could see the back of the cage and the digimon that were held captive there. The others would have already woken to find them gone, but at that moment Jade didn't care about what the others were thinking, she could only stare in horror at the many Koromon looked up.

"Agumon!" Tokomon suddenly cried in joy. Jade spun around as Agumon lifted Tokomon off the ground in a hug. He hadn't seen her yet, but as soon as he did he ran over and hugged her. It was then that he spotted the Koromon.

"Koromon!"

"The Pagumon came and locked us in these cages," one of the Koromon explained.

"About three days ago they came and took over our whole village," another continued.

Agumon stared at them in horror before moving to unlock their cages. Jade left him to it as she had noticed something else that the others hadn't. Agumon had apparently been followed by two of the Gazimon, and they didn't look like they would allow any of them to leave.

"Agumon," Jade began softly. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Agumon asked, turning around slowly. "Oh, that kind of problem."

"You really think that we'd just let you undo all of our hard work?" the Gazimon on the right began.

"We are going to be giving the humans as a gift for Lord Etemon," continued the one on the left. "We can't have you interfering with that."

"No you're not!" Agumon told them. "I won't let you."

"Neither will I!" Jade added, raising her fists threateningly. Her confidence was just an act, she really didn't want to fight but she wanted the Koromon to be set free as well. And then there's the fact that this Lord Etemon sounded like bad news.

"Why don't we teach the lizard a lesson?" the right Gazimon suggested.

"And the human too," said the left Gazimon. "Lord Etemon only wants the digidestined. The tag-along is useless to him."

Jade winced at the insult. Granted, she didn't want to see Etemon, but being thought of as a tag-along hurt. Agumon glanced at her quickly before stepping in front of her protectively.

"Don't talk about Jade like that!" he ordered. "She's worth ten of you!"

"Thanks Agumon," Jade whispered. "You take the left one, and I'll take the right one?"

"You sure?"

"No, but I'm not letting you fight alone," Jade looked quickly at Tokomon. "Tokomon, once they're occupied, run back to the village and get help."

"You can count on me!" Tokomon replied confidently. Jade nodded before turning her attention back to the oncoming attack.

As she was short, the Gazimon were just about the same size as she was. She had no advantage, and she was also human which made her more vulnerable than Agumon. Still, she rushed forward at the same time as Agumon and swung her fist. Her opponent howled as her fist hit his shoulder, but he followed up with scratching her across her arm. She gasped in pain, but wasn't quick enough to move as the Gazimon followed through by kicking her feet out from under her. She hit the ground hard, her breath knocked out of her.

Gazimon's eyes flashed red, and Jade threw her arms up just in time to protect herself as punches rained down on her. She screamed, she knew that she had, and cried out for help. She was nine, she didn't want to fight!

"_Tai! Help me! Tai! Where are you?! Help!_"

* * *

Far away in the village, the other children were searching for Jade and Tokomon. Tai was standing on the roof of the tallest building, studying the landscape with his telescope. Agumon had gone off shortly after they realised that two of their number was missing, and he hadn't returned yet. The Pagumon were helping as much as they could, and Izzy was coordinating the searches. He had drawn a map in the dirt and was crossing off various locations that had already been searched.

"You see anything Tai?" Sora asked in concern.

"No! Nothing!" Tai called down. "But they're around here somewhere, I know it!"

His attention returned to the landscape. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew that Jade was in trouble. Something bad had happened, and she was alone. He hoped that Agumon had found her, but with Agumon missing as well he had no idea where to look. It was at that moment that two things happened. The first was that he could see steam clouds in the distance. A puff of cloud would rise into the air, followed by another, and another, all at odd times. The second was a voice screaming in his mind. He cried out suddenly, his hands reaching up to cradle his head as the foreign voice ripped through his mind.

"_Tai! Help me! Tai! Where are you?! Help!_"

Distantly he noted that others were calling his name, and that he was on solid ground instead of the roof, but how that had happened didn't matter. He opened his eyes, confused as he hadn't realised he'd closed them, and sat up with the help of Joe and Matt. The voice in his head, he had felt it before but it was softer and more pleasant then. Phoenixmon had spoken into their minds, as she hadn't been able to use her voice, but this felt more desperate. And then he knew.

"Jade's in trouble," he said shortly. "Something bad is happening to her. Agumon is with her, I know he is, and they're by a waterfall."

"How do you know?" Joe asked as Tai brushed away his hands.

"Jade, she's calling out for help," Tai explained as he tried to stand up. "It was like when Phoenixmon spoke to us, remember? But I don't think that Jade realises what she's doing, because it hurts! For a moment there I could see out of her eyes."

"Was Tokomon with her?" TK asked urgently.

"No," Tai told him. "Come on! We have to hurry!"

* * *

"_Electric Stun Blast!_" the two Gazimon roared as lightning erupted from their bodies. Jade and Agumon screamed in pain, but through the pain Jade knew that Tokomon had escaped. She could only hope that the little digimon would make it back to the others, and that they'd be on time to rescue her, Agumon and the Koromon.

"Jade? Are you alright?" Agumon asked as the attack faded.

"Yeah," Jade replied, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "How about you?"

"I've been better."

"You know, the smoke cloud was a good idea while it lasted," Jade told him.

"Thanks," Agumon replied, struggling to get to his feet. "We can only hope that Tai and the others are on their way here. Then I should be able to digivolve."

Jade smiled softly before rolling onto her back. Her entire body ached, her arm was bleeding where it had been scratched, and bruises covered both her arms from where she had shielded herself. She was just glad that the Gazimon had stopped before causing any serious damage to her. Granted, the electricity wasn't very nice, but other than that she was fine. There was also something else in the cave with them, though she had no idea what it was. It felt like a forgotten memory, something warm, but also just out of reach.

"Agumon! Jade!"

Jade tilted her head back so that she was looking towards the entrance of the cave. She could have sworn that she heard Tai calling for them. Agumon seemed to gather a little more strength at the cry, and both of them smiled as Tai burst into the cave.

"Agumon, Jade, are you alright?" he asked as he spotted the two of them on the ground.

"Now we are," Agumon told him. Jade waved a hand lazily.

"Did you find Tokomon?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's with TK and the others. They'll be here shortly," Tai replied. His tone was casual, but both Jade and Agumon could pick up the underlying tension.

"So you're one of the digidestined?" one of the Gazimon asked.

"Digivolving time, Agumon get up!"

"You got it!" Agumon replied, forcing himself to his feet. "Agumon digivolve to – Greymon!"

Jade smiled and forced herself to sit up. Greymon focused his attention on the two Gazimon, both looking rather scared as they stared up at the giant dinosaur, and let Tai rush to Jade's side to help her stand. The Gazimon were blasted into the river where they were carried away by the currant, much to everyone's joy. The other digidestined and their digimon entered the cave, and Jade was thrilled to see that Sora had her bag. She immediately got to work picking the locks of the other cages, freeing the Koromon, before returning to Tai's side so that she could lean on him.

"Are you alright Jade?" Joe asked, seeing her tired appearance.

"I've been better," Jade told him, echoing Agumon from earlier. "But the Gazimon are gone now, so everything's great."

Meanwhile, Sora was standing with the Koromon explaining how the Pagumon had left their village so that they could return home. The Koromon were naturally excited at the thought of going home, but the arrival of yet another digimon ruined that plan. To Jade, he sounded like a poor version of a human rock star. She had heard a similar voice in school, and she was pretty sure that the rock star's name was Presley.

"Oh great, a digi-rock star," Joe muttered. The sound of a microphone coming too close to an amplifier echoed painfully in their ears, and they all ran to the edge of the cave so that they could see who was addressing them. To Jade, he looked like an orange monkey wearing dark sunglasses with a toy-sized Monzaemon attached to his waist and holding a purple guitar and a microphone.

"You measly digidestined humans, thank you very much, hello," the orange monkey said. He had somehow managed to create a giant projection of himself, so Jade knew that he was several times smaller than the projection. The Koromon all cried as one that the orange monkey was Etemon.

"You little bratty kids messed up all my big beautiful plans," Etemon continued. "So now I'm going to have to punish you all by playing a little number I just wrote. It's called _Wrecking the Whole Place!_"

"_Wrecking the Whole Place_?" Tai repeated in disbelief.

"Do you think he can actually do that?" Izzy asked. Jade had a horrible feeling that the monkey could, and really didn't want to stick around to find out.

"_Dark Network Concert Crush!_" Etemon cried. He started to laugh hysterically as black cables ripped themselves from the ground to float in mid-air. Electricity rushed over the cables, crackling as it moved. When the electricity got too close to something on the ground, like the Koromon village, it blew it up. Jade watched in horror as the small houses the Koromon lived in were blasted into tiny pieces. Gabumon digivolved into Garurumon to join Greymon in fighting, but it was like the very air was against them.

"So you say you want a digivolution?" Etemon asked. He strummed his guitar. "Well the answer is: NO! _Dark Network Concert Crush!_"

The cords played on the guitar took physical form as it reached the digidestined and the digimon. Greymon and Garurumon cried out in pain as they were forced back into their rookie forms, and Jade cried out as she grabbed her head. The music was attacking her mind, and it hurt!

"_Concert Crush_ took our power," Agumon explained apologetically as everyone looked at him and Gabumon.

"Does rock 'n' roll have that effect in your world?" Tentomon asked curiously.

"Only on our parents," Sora told him.

"That really hurt," Jade confided as the sound of the guitar died down. She kept her hands on her head but her eyes were now opened and gazing at everyone around her. "It kind of felt like a Black Gear, but a little less cold a lot more painful."

"So there's no way for us to fight this monster?" Izzy asked, his eyes jumping from Jade to the digimon.

"As we are, no," Tentomon told him. "If only we could digivolve a step further."

"A step further?" Matt asked curiously.

"That must be what Gennai was referring to," Sora said in understanding, "When he told us about finding the crests and tags."

"Gennai?" Jade asked, her eyes darting from person to person. "When did you meet him?"

"After we defeated Devimon," Tai explained. "It's a sort of long story. I'll explain it when we're safe, alright?"

Jade nodded and lowered her hands. She had no idea what the others were hoping to achieve, and she had no idea why they wanted tags and crests to begin with. What she did understand was that the digimon could apparently digivolve beyond their Champion forms, but they needed a little more power to do so.

An explosion disrupted her chain of thought, and after watching the entrance to the cave become sealed off they ran down one of the side tunnels. The Koromon were the ones leading the way, so Jade knew that wherever they were going was a safe haven for them. That feeling in her mind though, the one that felt like a forgotten memory, was getting closer. This was the opposite to a Black Gear, but had more power and felt warmer. The pain from Etemon's attack was fading the closer they got to the object, and Jade was able to run without much difficulty.

After a few minutes of running, the children and digimon came to a dead end. Jade stared in fascination at the wall that now blocked their way. This was what she had been sensing, but what was it? The carving on the wall looked like a sun with eight rays.

"What's this?" Tai asked.

"This is a safe place where we hide when anything bad happens to our village," the Koromon explained.

"Long ago a being of great power put this wall here," another Koromon added. "Nothing bad has ever happened to us here."

"A being of great power?" Sora asked curiously.

"We have stories about the time when this world was under attack by the darkness," the explanation continued. "It is said that a power being put walls in random places so that the darkness would be kept chained away."

"What do we do now?" Tai asked as the others thought over the words. Jade tilted her head to the side as the wall started to glow a vibrant gold. It shrank down until it was smaller than the tags the children carried around their necks, and Jade's eyes followed it as it flew towards Tai. A whisper in her mind made her smile as the newly discovered crest slid into Tai's tag.

_The crest of Courage – will shine for true bravery. _

Jade wasn't surprised to learn the name of Tai's crest, he was one of the bravest people she knew and he was always protecting her. What she was surprised to learn was that she could sense the crests, and if she concentrated she could feel where the others were. She resolved to try and find the others when they stopped for the night. Until then, they really needed to leave the cave and go somewhere else.

With the crest gone from its home in the wall, a new opening had suddenly appeared. This one led out to a lush forest with mountains in the distance, and with no hint of Etemon anywhere nearby.

"Didn't this use to be a wall?" Joe asked deadpan.

"Yes, but the crest must have brought us here!" the Koromon cried in delight. "These mountains are a long way from our village."

"Alright! Frequent flier miles!" Joe shouted happily. Jade grinned at him before taking a few steps forward.

"This place is the bomb!" Matt agreed.

"It's beautiful," Mimi added.

"With this crest," Tai began. "We could do anything we want. You know guys, I think this is the first step on our trip home!"

There was something about that statement that worried Jade. It wasn't that Tai was excited about his crest, it was something in his tone. She vowed to keep an eye on him, and hoped that he wouldn't do anything stupid. As much as she doubted the others would admit it, they needed Tai to keep them together. If he suddenly disappeared or ran off, they would be lost without him.

Of that she had no doubt.

* * *

The group travelled a fair distance from the cave before settling down for the night. The Koromon had gone in the opposite direction so that they could get back to their village and begin repairs, but they had wished them luck before going. Joe had wrapped some bandages around Jade's bleeding arm, but the cuts were shallow and would heal quickly. Tokomon had apologised for leaving them when they were fighting, but because it was Jade had ordered him to do, she wasn't worried about it. She thanked him for doing what she asked, even when he wanted to stay.

During the walk the others had explained to Jade what Gennai had said in his message, when he had appeared, and asked her if she knew who _He_ was. Jade was at a loss as to who Gennai was warning them about, but she knew that she trusted him and left it at that. She wished that she had gotten the chance to see him, but if Gennai was paying attention to their journey she knew that it wouldn't be long before she saw him.

As they settled down for the night, Jade perched on a rock next to Tai with the intention of talking to him about his crest. She didn't get a chance however, as Tai told her to go to sleep so that she would have enough energy to walk all day the next day. He then got up and walked away. Jade frowned before sliding onto the ground under her blanket. She wanted to see if she could find any other crests.

Her mind reached out, like she had done with the Black Gears before, and instantly she could sense nine crests. That confused her, as there were only seven tags, but there were an extra two crests floating around. There was one that was nearby, it glowed a light grey colour with a black outline. There was a blue one and a purple one together; there was golden white one not far from that; a green one further out; a red one and a yellow one semi-close together; and far off in the distance was a light pink one. Tai's crest, the golden orange one, was naturally the closest and shone the brightest in her mind.

Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to find the crests after all.

The next morning the children and digimon continued walking and before lunch they had left the shade of the forest to end up in the desert again. Jade frowned at that, she didn't really want to walk in the desert, but it wasn't like she could rip her clothes or blanket to tie around her feet. However, she did have the bandages around her arm, and while there was blood on them the fresh air would be good for them. So she stopped walking and quickly tied the bandages around her feet before running after the others. They didn't appear to notice that she'd stopped, which was fine because now she could walk without burning herself on the ground.

"How far do we have to walk?" Mimi asked in a whining tone as Jade caught up with the group.

"Until Etemon can't find us anymore," Joe told her, ignoring her tone.

"I don't think there is such a place!" Mimi snapped at him.

"We certainly can't stop here in the middle of nowhere," Matt said over his shoulder. "For one thing, if we were attacked there'd be no place for us to run to."

After Matt spoke the group, for some reason stopped walking. Jade peaked around Sora, who was just in front of her, and looked at everyone in confusion. Tai, who was leading, didn't seem to understand why everyone had stopped either.

"Hey, come on you guys!" he said. "Why'd we stop? Why is everyone so scared? After all, we do have a crest you know!"

"That's true," Matt agreed. "But do we really know that the crest will be able to help Agumon to digivolve?"

"Of course," Tai told him without hesitation. "Right Agumon?"

Agumon looked at Tai without much confidence. He clearly didn't know if he could digivolve further, even if that was what Gennai had promised they could all do once they had the crests. Jade's brow furrowed, maybe Gennai had meant that the digimon would only be able to digivolve further once everyone had gotten their crests. How would the crests work? That voice that was in Jade's head…was that telling her how to make the crests work?

"Listen buddy, this is your big chance," Tai said sternly. "Don't let me down. You're the only one who can digivolve further so either you try to digivolve to the next level and save us from Etemon, or I'll go and get myself a new digimon."

Agumon whimpered, and Jade's jaw dropped open at the tone Tai had used. She had never heard him speak like that before, and she had never expected him to treat Agumon that way. She walked up to the front of the group and put her hand on Agumon's shoulder in comfort. Tai turned his attention to the others, asking how the crests actually worked. While Izzy was busy explaining what they had already figured out about digivolving, Jade wrapped her arms around Agumon's neck. She had a bad feeling about what Tai would be attempting to get Agumon to digivolve.

It seemed that her bad feeling was spot on, as Tai was taking his new responsibility as the holder of a crest to extremes. As the others weren't doing anything to stop him from giving all their food to Agumon, Jade put a stop to it by standing between the two. She knew that she was doing the right thing when Agumon whimpered and gripped her shirt with his claws.

"What are you doing Jade?" Tai asked her with a tinge of anger in his voice. "Agumon needs energy."

"So do the other digimon," Jade told him with a glare. "Are you going to starve them while you force Agumon to eat more than he can stomach? We don't even know when Etemon will attack next. The others need energy to keep going; we can't rely just on Agumon. And we're hungry too! None of us have eaten since this morning and we've been walking all day!"

"Agumon is currently the only one who can digivolve to the next level!" Tai snapped back at her. "He needs a lot of energy to get there, which is why the others gave him their food!"

"You took that food from them!" Jade yelled back. "And at the rate you're going Agumon is never going to be able to digivolve to Ultimate! You forget that the digimon need your energy to digivolve! You are the only one who can help Agumon to digivolve as he needs your energy! Forcing him to eat is only going to slow him down!"

"What do you mean Agumon won't digivolve?!"

"You're being selfish and arrogant!" Jade cried at him. "I wouldn't be surprised if Agumon can't digivolve into Greymon because of your attitude!"

SLAP

Jade froze, her head tilted to the right from where Tai had slapped her. She had been slapped before, but it wasn't often. Her relatives preferred to lock her up and not feed her as opposed to actually touching her. The fact that Tai had given in to his anger and hit her hurt far more than anything her relatives had ever done. She knew that they didn't care about her, but she had honestly thought that Tai did care.

Apparently not.

There was silence from the group as the sound of the slap faded, though it was mainly due to shock that they were silent at all. They had no idea how to react, especially as they all had suspicions about what went on at the Dursleys. Jade turned her head so that she was looking up at Tai, took in his wide eyes, pale face, and absolute self-loathing, before turning and running in the direction of one of the crests.

Tears blurred her vision and she did her best to supress her sobs as she ran. She didn't want to talk to anyone, to have them touch her or tell her that Tai didn't mean it. He had meant it, even if he now regretted it he had meant to hit her. She could hear them calling after her, the thump of their feet in the sand as they ran, and hitch in her own breath as she struggled to breathe through the tears. But she wasn't going to stop.

In time the sounds behind her faded as she continued to run. This was probably the first time that the others could actually see what her endurance and stamina was like, what all those years of practice running from Dudley and his friends had caused, and she found that she didn't care. Her eyes had dried during her run, but her legs were now shaking from exhaustion. In the distance was a group of ruins and in the centre was a colosseum of sorts.

There was a crest in the colosseum so that was where Jade angled her path. She walked inside and tilted her head in slight confusion. By all accounts, this colosseum was just like the one in Rome, but with a few differences. First, it looked almost brand new, there was a giant television screen on the upper levels, and the arena area looked more like a soccer field complete with soccer goals.

Jade walked up the stairs so that she would have a good view of the arena whilst also being hidden from view. It wouldn't be long before the digidestined arrived so that they could get the next crest, and maybe they would have slapped some sense into Tai before they arrived. As she sat down she pulled her knees to her chest so that she could curl up into her ball form. She hadn't used her ball form much aside from the first few days in the Digital World, and she had hoped to not use it again either, but she wanted to feel safe now.

The digidestined ran into the colosseum several minutes later. Jade was only marginally surprised. They had been closer to the colosseum than she had first thought. That or they had lost track of her and were following the pull of the crest. Tai's tag had glowed when they were close to his crest, so whoever's crest was in the arena, their tag was glowing.

Tai was at the back of the group looking very much like a little boy who had been severely scolded. Joe's tag was glowing, and he ran off from the group once they stopped. Tai ran off in the opposite direction to get away from everyone, while the remaining five children and their digimon rested on the ground. Not one of them looked up in Jade's direction, and she couldn't figure out why that hurt.

The television screen activated and two hands were shown clapping excitedly. Jade paled as Etemon's laughter echoed from speakers that were scattered around the arena. The hands faded from view after a moment to reveal Etemon holding a microphone and staring at them.

"Who's the King?!" he asked them and struck a pose.

"Ah! He's here! Etemon's here!" Mimi cried as she ran to where Joe was standing by one of the soccer goals. The others all followed her, except for Tai and Agumon who were on the other side of the arena. Tai started to run to them, but hesitated as no one called out to see if he was joining them or not. They were clearly made at him. The soccer goal suddenly collapsed forwards, trapping the six children and their digimon. Jade uncurled from her ball and watched with interest to see what Tai and Agumon would do.

"GOAL!" Etemon cried as the net fell. "I sure did it! I scored a goal!"

"The whole thing was a trap!" Sora cried in dismay.

"Does he really think he can trap us with a simple net?" Tentomon asked before flying right into the mesh. The part of the net that the little insect digimon crashed into came to life in a shocking manner, electrocuting Tentomon and throwing him back into the children.

"Now, now, listen up," Etemon ordered. "If you do that you might get hurt. You see, there's electricity running through that net, it's a shocker I know. I really want to be there in person to do this myself, but I'm way too busy. You know how us rock 'n' roll legends are. But don't worry the act substitute for me is a very rare treat. Let's see if you can put your puny heads together and figure out who our special guest star is. Well?"

"How would we know who it is?" Tai asked from the centre of the arena. Agumon stood by his side faithfully and the two of them were looking up at the television screen angrily.

"I'm sure you'll all be surprised!" Etemon told them. "Here he comes!"

From one of the exits of the arena appeared another digimon. Jade gasped as she recognised a Greymon, but this one had a thick black cable around his neck. It looked painful, and Jade wanted to get it removed but could see no way that she could. The others still hadn't noticed her off to the side, but that would change when the fight began.

"See, I knew you'd be surprised!" Etemon crowed happily. "Why I'm so evil! Muhaha! Let's get started, it's time to go. Okay, here's the show! Get rid of the boy first Greymon, and then you can have some fun!"

The Greymon strode further into the arena, heading right for Tai and Agumon. They held their ground, though Jade wished that they would run for it. Tai, at least, took a few steps back to give Agumon some room, but before Agumon could digivolve Greymon spun on his foot and used his tail to send Tai flying into the other soccer goals. Agumon had ducked as soon as he saw the Greymon move, but Tai hadn't and he went flying right into the electrical net. Those goals collapsed forwards as well, trapping Tai.

"Agumon!" Tai called. "It's time to digivolve!"

His voice sounded pained, but anyone's would be after flying however far it was, crashing into something solid, and then being electrocuted. Jade bit her lip nervously as Agumon digivolved so that he could fight the other Greymon. What could she do now? The others seemed to be trying to find a way out of their cage by digging, so Jade left them to it and focused instead on the fight before her.

The two Greymon's appeared to be equally matched, but for some reason their Greymon had a slower reaction time. Could it be because of the fight earlier? Or was there a lack of trust between Tai and his partner? Anything could explain why Greymon was having trouble against Etemon's Greymon.

Jade shrieked in fear as Etemon's Greymon sent his opponent flying into the stands, right where Jade was hiding. She was able to dart to the side just in time, but the move had brought everyone's attention to her. They screamed her name in fear, seeing that she was alone, but Jade rushed to Greymon's side to see if he was alright.

"Jade," Greymon croaked. "Get to safety."

"What happened?" she asked in fear. "Why aren't you fighting like you normally fight?"

"I can't seem to get enough energy," Greymon admitted as he stood up. "Don't worry, I will protect you and the others."

With that Greymon charged back towards his opponent and started to wrestle. Lack of energy? Agumon had eaten a fair bit of food before Jade had stepped in, but not enough to have overeaten. Why couldn't he get enough energy? Was Etemon using his Dark Network to zap the digimon of their powers?

Jade looked to see if the others had gotten out yet and blinked as she realised that they had found another crest. Joe was holding up his tag and a grey crest slid into the slot just as Jade heard that same voice again.

_The crest of Reliability – will shine for those who are truly trustworthy._

Jade thought reliability suited Joe, he was always looking out for everyone, but maybe he just needed to trust in himself that little bit more. He needed to believe that he was worthy of that crest, and of the others' trust in him. With the crest removed from its hiding place, the children in that cage disappeared from sight to appear on the other side of the arena to Jade.

"This may be over sooner than I thought," Etemon stated, and Jade turned back to the two Greymons fighting. It wasn't looking good for them. Greymon was losing, and Etemon's Greymon seemed to have unlimited energy. Jade looked to where Tai was standing in his cage, looking completely helpless. His hands were clenched in front of him as if he wanted to punch something, and Jade could see the anger in him growing.

"ETEMON!" he screamed. "YOU COWARD! IS THIS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN WIN YOUR FIGHTS?!"

"Yoho! You certainly have an attitude on you," Etemon observed. "You have a problem with my battle tactics?"

"YOU'RE A DISGRACE!" Tai screamed back at him. "WHEN I FIND YOU I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU DOWN FROM THAT PEDESTAL YOU'VE PUT YOURSELF ON!"

"You'll have to find me first!" Etemon laughed. "Greymon, fire your _Nova Blast_ at that girl on her own. Teach those no good brats a lesson!"

"NOOO!" Tai screamed, this time in horror. Everyone's eyes turned to Jade as Etemon's Greymon prepared to unleash his fiery attack. Jade flinched, raising her hands to protect herself, but the attack never came. Instead, an intense feeling of cold and darkness rushed through her and her hands moved to grasp her head as she screamed in pain. The cold was horrible; it invaded every pore and deafened her to everything around her, then Greymon digivolved.

"Greymon dark digivolve to – SkullGreymon!"

Opening her eyes, Jade gazed in horror at the digimon before her. Greymon was gone, and in his place was a giant dinosaur made from bones. A weapon of some kind was attached to his back, and his eyes glowed with darkness. He looked like a monster. There was nothing in him that resembled the friend Jade had come to know, this was an enemy plain and simple.

"Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to – Garurumon!"

Birdramon and Garurumon ran across the arena to fight against SkullGreymon. SkullGreymon turned his attention to the now punt sized Greymon, and with one flick of his giant hands sent the Greymon flying into the television screen. Jade screamed in horror when a missile from SkullGreymon's back rocketed into the television, deleting it and the Greymon. She felt Greymon's life end like someone had silenced the radio in one move. She staggered, horror-struck.

SkullGreymon then turned his attention to Birdramon and Garurumon, and despite how much they clearly didn't want to attack, they did their best with no effect. They were too small to do much damage, and even when Tentomon digivolved to help them nothing could harm the fully evolved monster. SkullGreymon threw Garurumon into Tai's cage, breaking it and allowing Tai to go free, but injuring Garurumon so that he couldn't fight anymore.

Jade couldn't stand it anymore. She ran forward and punched SkullGreymon's foot, the only part of his body that she could reach, and then she was held tightly in his giant hands. It hurt when he squeezed, but all that mattered was stopping him. She didn't want anyone else to die.

"STOP IT!" she screamed at him. "FIGHT BACK AGUMON! DON'T DO THIS!"

Her body went hot as energy rushed through her to hit SkullGreymon. He screamed as the energy hit him, and then his whole body started to glow as his energy disappeared. Jade fell through the air at the same speed as SkullGreymon's de-digivolution. Vines wrapped around her before she could hit the ground, and she knew that Palmon had caught her. SkullGreymon became Koromon, and Jade could feel how ashamed and guilt-ridden the small digimon felt.

Once Jade was safely on the ground again she stumbled. Tai had rushed over to Koromon, tears in his eyes and probably feeling guilty and confused. Jade was confused as well, there should have been no reason for Greymon to digivolve, but for some reason he had.

"Are you alright Jade?" Joe asked as he rushed to her side. Jade reached out and grabbed a hold of his arms before her legs buckled. She was feeling very weak and her vision was tunnelling with black spots appearing.

"I'm going to pass out," she told the older boy. His concerned and alarmed face was the last thing she saw before darkness enveloped her.

* * *

Joe cried out as Jade went limp in his arms, and he quickly lowered her to the ground to see what it was that was wrong. Aside from the bruises on her arm from the Gazimon, the scratch on her right arm, the red hand print on her face and the new bruises from SkullGreymon, she seemed perfectly fine. There was no reason that she should have passed out. Unless…

"Is she alright?" TK asked as he appeared at Joe's side.

"Yeah," Joe told him as he lifted Jade off the ground, holding her behind her back and under her legs. Her head rested against his shoulder. "I think she just exhausted herself again, like she did with the Black Gears, but this took more energy than normal."

"So, what did she do?" Matt asked, standing behind TK.

"I think she drained SkullGreymon of his energy so that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else," Joe theorised. "She should be fine once she wakes up again."

There were sighs of relief from everyone, including Tai who was standing a little ways apart from the group. He was cradling Koromon in his arms, but he was still pale and shaking. Joe frowned at Tai, being pale he could understand, after all, SkullGreymon had nearly killed them all, but the shaking? Was Tai in shock?

"Are you alright Tai?" he asked in concern.

"I don't know," Tai admitted fearfully. "Why did Greymon digivolve? I wasn't in danger and his energy level was lower than normal. He shouldn't have been able to digivolve."

"Admittedly, we don't know everything about digivolving," Izzy stated. "Maybe there's something that we overlooked?"

"I'm sorry Tai," Koromon spoke up. "I didn't want to digivolve, even though you wanted me to. But during the fight it was like a rush of energy crashed into me and I had no choice! I tried to stop it but I couldn't. I'm sorry!"

"A rush of energy?" Matt asked, even as Tai told Koromon that it wasn't his fault. "Isn't that what Jade does when she's fighting against the darkness? Did Jade cause him to digivolve?"

"Did you feel anything during the fight Tai?" Sora asked. She didn't think Jade had done it, she had been in too much pain to cause that, and she didn't even know if Jade could make a digimon digivolve.

"I was angry," Tai admitted, lifting his eyes from Koromon to the others. "Etemon just makes me so mad, and then he turned on Jade and it was like my fear exploded out of me. I can't really explain it very well."

"No, that makes sense," Izzy told him. "Your energy made Greymon digivolve. It's possible that our emotions play a big part in our digimons' ability to digivolve. We were told the first say that we were here that something about us helps our digimon to digivolve, maybe that's it."

"You mean…my anger and fear forced Greymon to digivolve into SkullGreymon?" Tai asked, his face paling further. Joe was concerned that Tai would pass out, he really didn't look good.

"It's possible," Izzy told him.

It was possibly the worst news that Tai could have gotten. He remembered the last time he had been the angry, and three children had nearly died because of it. Those three boys who had been bullying Kari were fine now, but he knew that he had been the one to attack them. He had vowed back then that he would never get angry again, and now he had nearly killed his friends, and he had been responsible for the death of the other Greymon. He felt sick. He was dangerous, he shouldn't be around others. They'd only get hurt if they stayed with him. And Koromon was now weak and feeling guilty for something that wasn't even his fault.

"No Tai," Sora stated firmly, seeing the expression on his face. "Running away is not going to solve anything. Where would you go?"

"But I–"

"No Tai," Matt agreed. "You've been doing this since we got here. You are not to blame for everything bad that happens to us."

"My anger caused this," Tai whispered, gesturing to the damage around the colosseum. "And even before we got here, my anger and stupidity caused me to lash out at the one person who I had no reason to hurt. She's never going to want to talk to me again. I'm a danger to everyone."

Mimi, TK, Izzy and Joe stood back while Sora and Matt tried to stop Tai from doing something stupid. They had no idea how deep Tai's self-loathing went, and seeing him like this was scaring them. Sure, he had been acting weird throughout that day, but what they were seeing now went way beyond any of their preconceptions about him.

"Tai," Sora began. "Why were you so insistent on Agumon digivolving to the Ultimate level?"

"I had to protect you," Tai told her, hugging Koromon closer to him. "Etemon is dangerous, and no one else had a crest. If digivolving to the next level would get rid of Etemon, then it would have been safer for us to travel this continent. There would be less danger. I just wanted to protect us."

"Tai, we're a team," Matt told him. "We're in this together, all eight of us. Don't push us aside. When we go up against Etemon, we will do it as a team, and nothing will be able to stop us. We worked as a team against Devimon and won, why is this different?"

"I have this feeling that something bad is going to happen," Tai told him. "I can't shake it and it scares me. I don't think I could stand it if anything happened to you guys while I could stop it."

"Oh Tai," Sora sighed. "We're going to have to work on this 'everyone matters more than me' thing that you've got going on. You are not all powerful."

"How do you think we'd feel if something happened to you?" Matt asked.

"Matt's right Tai," Joe spoke up. "I don't know what happened to you in the past to make you think like this, but we're all in this together."

"Yeah!" TK cried with a smile. "As long as we all work together, we'll all be able to get home."

"I really want to go home," Mimi added. "But only if we get to go together."

"It really is unanimous," Izzy told him. "We're not alone if we're together."

"When you're feeling a little freaked out talk to someone," Sora told him. "We're all prepared to listen. Bottling it all up inside of you is not healthy."

"You're not alone," Matt finished. "Alright?"

Tai smiled at them, though it would probably take a bit more than that to get him out of his self-loathing. He nodded before his eyes rested on Jade and his smile faded.

"Don't worry about Jade," Joe told him. "She'll be fine with a little rest and TLC."

"What's TLC?" TK asked Mimi in a whisper.

"Tender Loving Care," Mimi whispered back. TK nodded his understanding and returned his attention to the older kids. Tai seemed calmer now, but the knowledge that his anger and fear had caused his partner to digivolve into a monster had shaken his confidence. They could only hope that he recovered, they needed him.

Readjusting Jade in his arms, Joe started to lead the others out of the colosseum. Staying in a place where Etemon knew they had been was just asking to be caught. They needed to get away, and soon. The others followed him eagerly enough, even Tai despite the fact that he brought up the rear of the group. Joe vowed to keep an eye on him. They needed to stick together, and Tai's bad feeling about going up against Etemon had Joe nervous. He didn't have the same bad feeling about Etemon, but he did have a bad feeling about separating. They needed to be together, though he didn't know why.

How much more danger would they find before they were able to go home?

Would they ever be able to go home?

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 11: Sincerity**_


	11. Sincerity

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_The digidestined and Jade have left File Island and have arrived on the continent of Server with Whamon's help. The only thing they need to do is gather the seven crests that are scattered throughout Server, and once they have the crests their digimon partners will be able to digivolve to the Ultimate level. The crest of Courage (Tai) has been found, as has the crest of Reliability (Joe). Tai's personality took a turn for the worst and now his positive relationship with Jade looks like it's gone forever. Greymon was forced to dark digivolve into SkullGreymon and Jade drained him of his power, forcing him to then de-digivolve into Koromon._

_With Etemon on their trail, they need to leave as soon as possible. They need to work together now more than ever, for true danger awaits on the horizon. __Will they have the strength to overcome it? The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 11: Sincerity

* * *

It became obvious, to Joe at least, that there was more wrong with Tai than he was letting on. They had been walking for what felt like hours through stifling heat but not one word had passed his lips. There were times when Joe feared that they had lost Tai in the desert and would try to be casual about his looks towards the back of the group, just to make sure that he was still with them. Even now, after glancing back at the boy again, Tai was pale and downtrodden.

"Do you think something else happened that we aren't aware of?" Matt asked in a whisper, seeing Joe turn around again. He was also concerned about Tai. Tai had never walked at the back of the group before willingly, and he had never gone so long without looking at Jade either.

"I don't know," Joe whispered back. "I think that he's just lost confidence in himself. We need to figure out a way to pull him back."

"Jade could probably do it," Matt suggested. "How is she, by the way?"

"Jade is more likely to avoid Tai," Joe replied. "You saw her face, when he hit her. The betrayal in her eyes…what Tai did, hurt her more emotionally than physically. Her trust has been shaken."

"But how is she?"

"She hasn't moved since I picked her up," Joe stared at Jade who was still cradled against his chest. "Not a mumble or twitch, it's like she's gone right passed sleeping and fallen into a coma."

"A coma?" Matt asked, alarmed.

"It's what I think, but she's never stayed asleep too long after draining herself."

"She's never passed out either."

"She was unconscious for a while after Phoenixmon disappeared. Who knows what affect that had on her?"

The two boys walked on in silence, Joe looking back to make sure Tai was with them still. Mimi and Sora were walking together just in front of Tai, with Izzy and TK just in front of them. No one was talking, all too exhausted and hot to bother. The only two digimon who weren't walking were Tokomon and Koromon, though while Tokomon appeared comfortable, Koromon was still recovering from being SkullGreymon as he looked horrible. Gabumon was also suffering, but that was due to his fur coat. The other digimon could have also used some time out of the sun, but the only thing surrounding them for miles was cacti.

"Man! This desert is so hot a lizard would need sunscreen!" Matt finally yelled.

"Sora, can you carry me?" Biyomon asked hopefully. Sora looked at her, her face red from the heat, and shook her head.

"The crew cut would look nice on you," Tentomon told Izzy. "And it's cooler."

Izzy wiped his hand across his forehead to wipe away the collection of sweat that was building up. Other than that he didn't say a word to his partner and continued to stumble along.

"Do I look fat?" Gabumon asked Matt, bumping against his side when he stumbled.

"No, you look hot," Matt told him. "Especially with a fur coat. That thing really needs a zipper."

"Or maybe just removable shirt sleeves," Gabumon wished.

Joe rolled his neck slightly and readjusted his grip on Jade. She may have been small and light, but he'd been carrying her for hours and his arms were getting sore. Gomamon looked up at his partner in concern. The heat was taking its toll on all of them. Mimi, surprising everyone, waltzed up next to Joe and offered to carry Jade for a while.

"You want to carry Jade?" Joe asked her, slightly incredulous.

"Yep," Mimi told him. "I won't drop her if that's what's worrying you. Besides, aren't your arms sore? I can carry her on my back for a while, and maybe she'll wake up sooner if she feels that she's being carried by someone who hasn't carried her before."

Mimi did have a point, and Joe's arms were sore, but Jade was still very still. One of the main reasons Joe wanted to carry her was to keep an eye on her health. In the end he agreed with Mimi and the two of them worked to get Jade on Mimi's back. Mimi's hat was large enough that it covered Jade's head where it rested on her shoulder, and Joe couldn't help but sigh as he shook his arms out.

"Oh, she's lighter than Palmon," Mimi observed. "That cannot be healthy for her."

"Jade doesn't eat much," Tokomon pipped up. "When I was Patamon I still ate more than she did."

"I don't think her aunt and uncle feed her," Izzy added. "I may not have joined you guys much at camp, but even I saw her cousin and there's no way that her family could be short on food. He was at least four times wider than she is, and whenever I did see him he was stuffing his face."

"Or picking on the younger kids," Sora added. "He's a bully. He never wrote to me for the Pen Pal Project, but I learnt a lot about him from Jade. She wrote to me instead of him for 'destroying his work'."

Sora looked back at Tai as she spoke, hoping that the topic of conversation would cause him to add in some information. She knew that he knew more about Jade than anyone, and that she knew more about him than she realised. Sora had never read Tai's letters, but she did talk to him about them on occasion. It was only now that she wondered, what was it about Jade that caused Tai to trust her so much after just a few letters?

It was as she was watching her friend that whatever he was fighting caught up with him. He collapsed in a boneless heap, turning slightly on the side so that he wouldn't crush Koromon with his weight. Her startled cry of alarm caused the others to turn as well, and soon they were all crowding around him. Izzy lifted Koromon so that the digimon wouldn't get hurt, while Joe, Matt and Sora rushed forwards to see what was wrong with Tai. Mimi remained where she was with TK, knowing that they would get in the way.

"Damn it Tai," Joe whispered as he rolled the boy onto his back. "Stubborn, mule-headed, self-sacrificing idiot…haven't we had this conversation before?"

"I have it with him at least once a week," Sora told him as she lifted Tai's head so that it could rest on her knees.

"What's wrong with him?" Matt asked Joe in concern. "He's really pale."

"Probably the same thing that's wrong with Jade," Joe muttered. "But whereas Jade is resting it off, whatever it is, Tai thought he'd be strong enough and has now utterly exhausted himself."

"He couldn't have done this where there was shade?" Matt groaned. "We'll all cook out here if we stay here too long."

"Our goal was to get as far away from Etemon as quickly as we could," Sora told him as Joe checked Tai's pulse. "I don't think we would have been able to stop, even if Tai had mentioned something."

"Which is probably why he didn't," Matt muttered. "Stubborn idiot."

"Is he alright?" Mimi asked in concern.

"He needs to get out of the sun," Joe told her, sitting back on his heels. "We all do."

"You know, what we need right is a whole bunch of shade," Palmon stated. "A big umbrella, or a really big tree, or maybe I could grow into a giant cactus and smile down onto all of you as I provide cool, refreshing comfort."

"It's official, the sun has just turned Palmon's brain into a French fry," Matt announced as he looked over at the aforementioned digimon. "Earth to Palmon, come in Palmon."

"Well, staying here isn't going to do us any good," Joe stated before someone else could comment. "Matt, help me get Tai up, we'll drag him to a cactus or something so that we can rest in the shade."

Matt sighed but did as Joe asked. He threw one of Tai's arms across his shoulders, and his other arm went across Joe's. His head lolled against his chest lifelessly, and Matt became even more concerned when he felt just how cold Tai was. A quick look at Joe told him that he'd already noticed it but didn't want the others to worry at that moment. So Matt kept his observation silent, but was unable to mask his concern.

The group continued to move, though it was at a slightly slower pace as they had Tai's dead weight to contend with. Gabumon and Biyomon teamed up to snap Palmon back to reality, and then Gabumon took pity on Gomamon and put him onto his back. Granted, his fur was hot, but Gomamon still sighed in relief at being off the ground. They all knew that when they found somewhere with water they would need to soak their feet, and in the case of the digimon, possibly treat their feet for burns.

"Ow."

Joe and Matt stopped abruptly at the noise that Tai had made. Matt sighed in relief, and not just because it meant he wouldn't have to drag his friend along. Their stopping alerted the others and soon Tai was surrounded with everyone talking at once. Joe silenced them with a glare, and as soon as there was silence he turned to his patient.

"How are you feeling Tai?" he asked.

"Like I was stepped on by a Monochromon," Tai mumbled. "What happened?"

"You collapsed," Matt told him as he helped Tai sit on the ground. "Scared us all half to death when you did. You didn't even make a sound, just dropped."

"I don't feel so good," Tai admitted, resting his head on his knees. "Why do I feel cold?"

"Were you going to tell us that you didn't feel well?" Joe asked sternly. "I know that we've had this conversation before. Didn't you learn your lesson back in Toy Town? If your ribs had actually been broken you could have died and there was nothing that we could have done about it."

"I just thought it was because of what I did to Greymon," Tai admitted. "Jade's done it before and she's been fine. I thought it would pass."

"Jade is currently unconscious because of what she did to SkullGreymon," Joe whispered so only Tai, and Matt who was still close by, could hear. "And that's after everything that she's already done. You've never done anything like that before, so it was to be expected that your body would rebel. But because you didn't say anything we had no idea and it wasn't until you dropped from exhaustion that most of us knew that something was wrong."'

"How is Jade?" Tai asked after nodding his understanding.

"Unconscious."

"Not anymore," Mimi corrected. Her gaze was focused on her left shoulder where Jade's head rested, and as everyone was watching they saw how Jade moved and lifted her head.

"Welcome back," Joe called to her. "How are you feeling?"

Jade, who had come to consciousness slow enough that she had heard most of the conversation with Tai, looked at Joe without making a sound. Her eyes flickered to everyone to make sure that they were still together, except for Tai. Her dismissal of him caused Tai to flinch and withdraw further into himself. Jade's eyes returned to Joe's and she nodded.

"Oh wow!" TK suddenly cried. "I've never seen a cactus that big before!"

Everyone followed TK's gaze to see a giant cactus. It was huge. They all looked at each other before deciding that it would be in their best interests to rush over to it for the shade that it no doubt created. However, as soon as they got close enough they all realised that the giant cactus wasn't real. It didn't create shade, or block the sun, it was just a mirage that everyone could see. Before their eyes it disappeared, and just about everyone groaned.

Tai's right arm was across Matt's shoulders, at the other boy's insistence, so that he could keep up with everyone. He and Jade were the only ones who didn't groan, and that was because the two of them lacked the energy to do so.

"It was just a mirage!" Matt stated angrily. "We've been tricked!"

No matter what they thought about the mirage, they all dropped to the ground in despair. Jade slid off Mimi's back and sat next to her, cross-legged on the ground. Tai allowed his body to fall backwards so that he was lying down, and it helped the dizziness he was feeling because the ground wasn't moving.

"Well, well, it's about time you got here. I was just about ready to give up on you."

The ground in front of them broke apart to reveal another metallic device, like the one Gennai had used when they were still on File Island. Jade looked at the device curiously, being the only one who hadn't seen it before, and crawled forwards so that she was directly in front of it. The image of an old man appeared hovering over the device, and it was only Matt's cry of recognition that Jade realised the man before her was Gennai.

"Gennai?! What happened? You got old!" she cried before she could stop herself. TK giggled behind her as Joe made to silence her, embarrassment clear on his features.

"Little One! It's good to see you as well," Gennai told her happily. "You've grown, not much, but you've grown."

"I'm nine now," she told him with a wide smile. The others were amazed to see the change that had come over her. She'd never looked this cheerful before.

"Nine? Goodness, so it's only been three years? The timeline here is really out of sync."

"Out of sync?" Izzy asked curiously, but both ignored him.

"Why'd I forget you?" Jade asked desperately. "I'm only remembering now because I'm here, but otherwise it was just a dream."

"How much do you remember?"

"You let me help look after the baby digimon, and there was an angel who carried me around to see all the digimon, and there was an egg," Jade explained.

"Your memory will return when you are ready for it," Gennai promised her. His eyes turned to the others, taking in their appearance and despondent attitude.

"Gennai, we found the tags and a couple of crests like you wanted," Matt told him, looking down at Tai who had not moved since lying down. "But when we got into trouble our digimon couldn't digivolve. They ended up worse off than when they started. Koromon's having trouble recovering, although, I suppose this heat isn't really helping matters."

"I think those thingies are more trouble than they're worth," Mimi added with a frown.

"Calm down kids, let me explain," Gennai told them. "The tags and crests are extremely important, please make sure no one else gets a hold of them. Phoenixmon risked her life to hide them from the enemy a few centuries ago. In the end you shall see that they will work together to help you create total harmony."

"In English?" Mimi requested as everyone looked quickly at Jade before looking away again. As she was at the front of the group, Jade never saw the stares.

"Just trust me," Gennai told them. "After all, I'm the floating glowing guy! As for Koromon, he wouldn't be so helpless if you'd known to take care of him in the proper way."

"What?!" Tai demanded, sitting straight up and ignoring the dizzy spell that the move caused him. "I've done the best I could!"

"Patience is what you need to learn my friend," Gennai told him. "And you will learn it in time. Giving into your anger is something else that you will need to work on not doing. The consequences are more than you could understand."

"But-!" Tai began before cutting himself off. He lay back down again. "Oh, I don't feel good."

"I'm starting to lose my connection," Gennai warned them. "Jade, you especially need to be extra careful. You are in great danger, and it is my wish that the one who hunts for you will not find you."

"Who?" Jade asked, slightly apprehensive at the thought of someone, other than Dudley, hunting her.

"That's something you're going to have to figure out by yourself," was all Gennai said. "Good luck."

Jade frowned. Maybe this digimon that was hunting her was the same one the others had told her about. Who was this _Him_ that Gennai was so afraid of? Why would she be in danger? She hadn't done anything yet. It was the other children and the Sovereign throwing a crimp into the plans of the dark digimon, not her.

"That, like usual, was as clear as mud," Tai muttered to the sky. "Typical."

"Are we being cared for properly?" Biyomon asked Gabumon, who was the closest to her. The winter digimon looked at her and shrugged.

"If we were, Agumon wouldn't have digivolved backwards."

"Come on! Don't freak me out!" Matt told his partner. Jade swivelled and looked at the two digimon in confusion.

"But I was the one who forced SkullGreymon to de-digivolve," she told them. "That was my fault."

"It's more of digivolving the wrong way," Gabumon told her. "Dark digivolving is something that we've only heard about, but if that's the result I think I'd rather be deleted."

"Gabumon!" Matt cried in a shocked tone. "Don't say things like that!"

"I'm better with computers," Izzy sighed in despair.

"That's ridiculous," Tentomon told him. "As far as I'm concerned, I think you're the best."

"You look bummed," Gomamon told his partner. Joe did look depressed, shoulders hunched and eyes downcast, but when he spoke it was with care of Gomamon.

"How am I supposed to take care of you? Is there a handbook somewhere? I feel very inadequate."

"Me too," Gomamon told him supportively. Jade watched them all incredulously.

"What's the matter with all of you?" she asked. "You're acting like it's the end of the world or something! Gennai only told you that to make you understand that your partnership goes both ways. You have to look after each other instead of one doing all the work. You have two crests! There's only another seven out there to find!"

"Seven?" Izzy asked. "Don't you mean five?"

"No," Jade told him, tilting her head to the side in contemplation. "There are definitely another seven out there, as well as the two you already have. There's one that's close by actually, maybe a day's walk that way?"

Jade pointed just off to the left of their current travel path. It was the green one, but still too far away to be picked up by the tags, so she had no idea who it belonged to.

"You can sense the crests?" TK asked. "That's so cool! What do they feel like? You said the Black Gears were cold, does this mean that the crests are cold too, or are they different?"

"They feel safe and warm," Jade told him. "They all have different colours too. I don't know what they are, but as soon as they're found I could tell you what they represent and how to make them work."

"What's mine?" Joe asked, perking up slightly.

"Reliability," Jade told him with a grin. "You have to believe that you are reliable in order to make your crest work. You need to believe in yourself, the way that others believe in you."

"No pessimism then," Matt quipped. "Be confident, Joe."

"Brilliant, mine's never going to work," Joe moaned.

"What about Tai's?" Sora asked, seeing as Tai wasn't going to ask for himself.

"Courage," Jade told her, not looking at Tai. "His will shine when he shows true bravery."

"True bravery? What's that?" TK asked. Jade shrugged.

"Maybe it's doing the right thing even if you're afraid," Mimi guessed. "No false bravado or anything like that."

"That explains a lot," Tai muttered quietly, even though everyone could hear him. "No wonder it didn't work."

"Are you saying that you aren't brave, Tai?" TK asked curiously. "You sure seem brave when we're in trouble."

"If people think that you're not afraid, they don't really bother you," Tai told him, his eyes closing. "My mother constantly informs me that I'm a disappointment, and that everything I do is selfish and arrogant."

"What?" Sora asked in disbelief.

"I don't blame her," Tai continued, his voice becoming steadily softer. "No matter what I do, someone gets hurt. Kari, Jade, Koromon…I never learn."

Jade finally looked at Tai, not that he could see it, and frowned. The boy had mentioned in his letters that he was reckless, but he hadn't ever hinted that his mother thought him a disappointment. It was quite the opposite; Tai always spoke about how loving his mother was to him, and how he loved her. For Tai to reveal such a low self-esteem meant that he had reached the limits of his ability to cope with what was happening. He had probably been acting from the moment he had arrived in the Digital World. It might have been his thought that if he pretended that everything was alright, sooner or later he would actually believe it as well.

At that moment the children looked up in horror as they realised they were being approached by something that definitely wasn't a mirage. Without thinking about what they were doing they stood up and ran to the side, Matt and Joe dragging Tai along as he made no effort to get up.

It was a cruise ship, though Jade had only ever seen pictures of them before, and this one was massive. It was so tall that Jade had to crane her head back all the way so that she could see the top. She grabbed Sora's arm and as the other girl laughed she realised that her mouth had dropped open in awe. From the deck appeared a familiar green digimon, this one wearing a sailor's outfit. It was a Numemon.

"Ahoy there!" he called. Jade giggled at the greeting. It was certainly different from the last greeting they had gotten from the Numemon. That time they had been running in the sewers from the Numemon who were throwing clumps of pink sludge at them. It had been icky. This Numemon seemed a lot nicer.

Koromon whimpered from where he was still resting in Izzy's arms. Tai lifted his head in alarm after hearing the whimper, but as he could barely hold himself up he had no chance to rush over to his partner. He could, however, yell up to the Numemon.

"Hey! Could all of us come aboard and freshen up?"

The Numemon frowned and shook his head, clearly unwilling to let the group aboard. Almost everyone sighed in disappointment. Mimi strode forwards confidently with a smile, as if she had a secret that could save them. Jade watched her curiously. When Dudley smiled like that she knew that it was time to run and hide.

"Excuse me," she said as she waltzed passed Matt. "This needs a woman's touch."

"What does she mean?" Jade asked Sora in a quiet whisper. Sora giggled again and told her to watch as this would be interesting. The Numemon on deck turned back to watch, his cheeks even from this distance turning a pale pink colour.

"Well, hey there big boy," Mimi began. Jade's jaw dropped again. "Your ship looks so, so inviting. How about letting us on board so that we can check it out? Oh, please?"

The loading bridge dropped at their feet moments later, but Jade couldn't figure out why. She quickly darted over to Mimi's side, questions bubbling from her mouth. Mimi led her up the ramp as she tried to keep up with the questions.

"Why did that work Mimi? What did you do? Why didn't the Numemon let us on when Tai asked, but did when you asked? Why were you giggling? Did you have something in your eye? Is that why you were blinking a lot? What's a woman's touch?"

"It's called flirting," Mimi told her. "No man can resist a woman who bats her eyelashes at him, although, if that doesn't work, bursting into tears will. Lucky for us, this Numemon was more than happy to let us on when I asked him."

"Wow," Jade breathed as they reached the top of the ramp. She decided to see if she had the same skill that Mimi did. With a wide smile she knelt down and kissed the Numemon on the cheek, thanking him for being so kind. Once she stood back up the Numemon was completely red, not a hint of green on him anywhere. With a few stutters of "you're welcome" the Numemon disappeared.

"That was excellent, Jade," Mimi praised. "Now, I think it's time for a hot shower, and some food, and a long, relaxing snooze."

Sora agreed with her and the two older girls ran off to the nearest room so that they could get clean. Jade considered following them, but ultimately decided against it. Matt ran off after his brother and Izzy, with Izzy first leaving Koromon with Jade when she held out her arms for him. This left Joe holding Tai up on his own, with Gomamon looking up at him as if asking what they intended on doing.

"Why don't you go on and find the pool to cool yourself down?" Joe asked him. "I'm going to find Tai a bedroom so that he can sleep off his exhaustion. I'll join you once he's settled."

Gomamon grinned brightly and scurried off. Jade looked at Joe, concerned about Tai but still unwilling to get close enough to him that he could hit her again, but she still followed as Joe dragged the almost unconscious boy to the nearest bedroom. Luckily, the room that he had chosen had two beds so while Joe just about threw Tai onto one of them, Jade gently placed Koromon down and walked into the bathroom to grab a handful of washcloths that had been dunked in cold water. One she kept for Koromon, the others she gave to Joe so that he could tend to Tai before leaving.

With the washcloth on Koromon's head, Jade left the room to go and find where Matt, TK, Izzy and their digimon had gone off to. She thought that TK had cried "food!" before leaving, and she knew that Koromon, and Tai, would need something to eat so that they could get better. She could do with something to eat as well to regain what she hadn't regained energy-wise.

Walking into what had to be the dining room, Jade hesitated as she noticed how piggy the three aforementioned boys and digimon were acting. She was disgusted but still crept in further to quickly fill a few plates of leftover food before the boys could devour it all, and left the room. She doubted that they had even noticed her being in the room with them, but it didn't matter. Moments later she was back outside Tai and Koromon's room.

"Oh, Jade, I wondered where you had disappeared to," Joe stated as he exited the room. He smiled at the plates of food that Jade was balancing. "Hopefully they'll both sleep until they're recovered, but the food will help them when they do. How are you recovering?"

"I'm fine," Jade told him. "My nap earlier helped my recovery speed. A bit of food now and I'll be as good as new again."

"Just make sure you allow yourself to recover," Joe warned. "I'll be by the pool with Gomamon if you need me."

Jade nodded and waited until he had disappeared before slipping into the room. Tai was still and silent on his bed, and for a moment Jade feared that he had died. She crept closer to him and was relieved to see that his chest was still rising and falling. She may not trust him anymore, but that didn't mean that she wanted him to die. She put the plates of food down on the bedside table and slid onto the bed behind Koromon. She nibbled on some of the food she'd brought while she watched them sleep.

It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, but eventually Koromon woke up in a panic. The little pink digimon was able to calm down once he saw Tai on the bed next to him, and only then did he look around to see where they were. He actually jumped when he noticed Jade dozing behind him, curled up like a kitten on the pillow, but at his movement she awoke from her doze and sat up. With her legs crossed and rubbing her eyes with her fists, Jade looked years younger than what she was.

"How are you feeling Jade," Koromon asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Jade asked him in response. "You did just recover from experiencing the darkness of digimon."

"Yeah, but I wasn't worried."

"Why not?"

"You were there," Koromon admitted. "You may not realise it, but you have a presence among us digimon. You glow like the sun, and when you're near it's like we know that everything is going to be alright."

"I glow?" Jade asked.

"Yep! Tai and the others don't see it, I don't think, but we can. You make us feel safe."

Jade sat in silence after hearing that. Sure, the digimon on File Island had spoken of a warm light when they were under the influence of the Black Gears, but she had assumed that it was the Sovereign they were seeing. For Koromon to say that it was her who the digimon were seeing, surely that meant that she was the Sovereign? But how was that possible? She considered asking Koromon, but something about the expression on his face convinced her not to.

"Why are you avoiding Tai?" Koromon asked curiously after Jade had been silent for a while.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's on that bed unconscious, and you're sitting here," Koromon tried to explain. "Ever since you arrived in this world, you and Tai have been almost inseparable. When you disappeared Tai ran off after you before the others could stop him. You were all he cared about. But now, it's like you don't want to be near him anymore."

"Tai and I probably know more about each other than anyone else," Jade told him. "But, now I don't think I know him at all. People who resort to violence when they're angry are bound to do so again."

"Tai regrets hitting you," Koromon reassured her. "I've never seen him look like he did after you ran off. He stared at his hands for a really long time before he punched the ground. The others stopped him before he could hurt himself, but I know that he thought he deserved the pain. The only thing he didn't do was cry."

"What if he does it again?" Jade asked fearfully. "He's already lost control of his anger once, who's to say that the next time I say something he doesn't agree with he doesn't hit me again?"

"I don't think he will."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because, I believe that sometimes people need to know what they have lost, in order to grow stronger. Tai had your trust and friendship, and then he lost it. Now he knows that he needs to control his anger. He will become a better person for it, I know he will."

"I don't deserve your forgiveness," Tai mumbled without opening his eyes. Jade jumped and slid off the bed so that it was between her and Tai. "Not from either one of you. I hurt you both."

"I forgive you Tai," Koromon told him. "I know that you lost control for a moment. Everyone does eventually."

"Jade," Tai whispered. "Please, I didn't mean to hurt you. I promised myself I would protect you, but everything I do only serves to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"Why'd you do it?" Jade asked, twisting her hands in her shirt nervously.

"I guess I was scared," Tai considered, his eyes opened so that he could stare at the ceiling. "My mum did the same thing when I did something stupid. I took Kari outside to play soccer, because she wanted to come with me, and she almost died of pneumonia. Mum hit me when she found out what I had done, but now that I think about it, she was probably scared that Kari would die. I was too, it would have been all my fault."

"What were you scared of?" Koromon asked.

"I was the only one who had found a crest. If I couldn't get you to digivolve so that we could defeat Etemon, we would all be in danger and one of us might die. I don't think I could handle that. You telling me to stop what I was doing, Jade, was like saying that you didn't think I could protect everyone, or that I was the one putting everyone in danger with my actions. That last one I believe though, everything I do has terrible consequences. Why can't I do anything right?"

"Stop trying so hard," Jade told him. "You are a part of the digidestined. You need to work together to succeed, not alone. You are not alone in this world."

"Do you think you could ever forgive me?" Tai asked desperately, turning his head so that he could stare at her. His eyes were so hopeful that Jade couldn't help but see how remorseful he was. She knew that she did forgive him, he had proven that he was scared and only wanted to protect everyone. But she didn't think that she could trust him again.

"I forgive you," she told him. "But I can't forget, not yet."

Tai nodded, but instead of looking happy with her forgiveness he looked even more heartbroken. It seemed that he finally realised the extent of what he had lost. Jade would no longer walk with him when they were going somewhere, she wouldn't sleep next to him when it got cold and night and she needed warmth, and she wouldn't talk with him like they used to. They were pretty much just strangers again. The final nail in the coffin for him was when Jade removed her bracelet, the one that Tai had given to her for her birthday before they entered the Digital World. She put it into her backpack under her blanket, and with one last look at Koromon she left the room.

She walked to where she knew Joe would be, her feet dragging in her sadness. She had liked Tai, and thought that he was different from the others she had liked. While it was true that Dudley had chased away everyone who had wanted to be her friend, there had been one boy who seemed to ignore Dudley's threats and played with her anyway. She had been happy to go to school because she knew that He would be there, Dennis. But one day when she ran over to play with him, he laughed at her and told her that she was gullible. He was one of Dudley's cronies who thought it would be funny to befriend her, and then betray her. He had pushed her into the mud and laughed at her expression. After that she had vowed that she wouldn't be tricked like that again.

But it seemed like she never learnt.

It was as she was walking by the dining hall that she realised there was something really wrong. The sounds of a fight escaped the closed door, but it wasn't a fight between friends. This one was between the digidestined digimon and the Numemon. Jade crept closer and peaked around the corner in time to see a large bird that looked like a turkey enter the room holding Joe and Tai's crests. In horror Jade realised that after she left Tai he had been attacked. She hoped that he was alright, and Joe as well. He had been by the pool.

The bird, Kokatorimon according to Tentomon, was an off white colour with red tips on his tail and black feathers on top of his head. His eyes were a cold red colour, and the top of his beak was yellow. His teeth were sharp looking, but when he glared at the digimon his eyes turned green and beams of green light collided with the digimon. When the light faded, it was revealed that the digimon had been turned into stone. Matt, Izzy and TK were dragged off by the Numemon and Kokatorimon left in order to find the other digidestined. Jade kept her distance, but was still able to follow the Numemon to the pool deck without being spotted. She was alarmed to see that all the boys were tied up on a net above the water in full view of the sun. Joe only had his shorts on as he had been in the water, but still, they were all burning.

Jade waited until the Numemon left, presumably to look for her and the girls, before taking a running leap and landing on the net next to Joe. She quickly worked to untie the ropes holding them in place, and was able to free Joe so that he could help her. The five boys were untied instantly, but without their digimon they couldn't exactly fight against Kokatorimon.

"Where's Sora and Mimi?" Matt asked once they were all on deck.

"I don't know, I followed you here," Jade told him.

"They were going to have a shower," Joe explained. "So unless they heard the Numemon in the room they chose, that's probably where they were caught."

"No," Jade said, her head tilting to the side. "Biyomon just digivolved. The front of the ship, I think."

"Great," Matt stated. "Let's go."

"How would we fight?" Joe asked him. "Our digimon were turned to stone."

"They're both fine," Jade continued, not listening to the discussion with the boys. "Palmon just digivolved as well, so Kokatorimon will be defeated soon enough."

As she finished speaking, Gomamon, who was on the deck next to them, moved as the rock petrifying him disappeared. The little digimon looked around in confusion, even as Joe lifted him in delight. It was decided that the time had come to abandon ship, so while Joe got changed Matt and TK took his bag and filled it with food and check on their digimon partners. Tai went back to his room at a run so that he could see if Agumon, who had digivolved to protect him, was un-petrified as well.

Jade rocked back on her heels and watched as the boys around her disappeared. She casually made her way to the ramp they had used to board the ship and bumped into several Numemon. They looked terrified, shaking in corners with their eyes darting every which way. Jade paused on her walk and knelt down so that she was at eye level with the nearest Numemon.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She had seen the green digimon help to drag off the boys to be tied up, but she could now sense their fear and knew that they had been coerced. The Numemon looked up at her nervously, and several of his friends shrank further back into the shadows.

"He's going to delete us," the Numemon croaked out. "And if we move, the other digimon are going to want revenge for what we did to you humans."

"No they won't," Jade promised. She gently pushed the emotions of comfort and understanding outwards, like she had done with Andromon on File Island, and was amazed to see the Numemon calming down.

"What do we do?" one of the Numemon asked, creeping forward slightly.

"Do you have to stay on this ship?" Jade asked. "You could abandon the ship and then Kokatorimon won't be able to find you. He'll probably be more focused on us humans than you little guys."

"You would, let us go?" the Numemon closest to her asked. "After what we did?"

"It wasn't your fault," Jade soothed. "Besides, this isn't the first time we've been attacked. no hard feelings."

The Numemon all looked at each other in silent contemplation. Some shifted nervously, others glanced around to look for Kokatorimon or the other digimon, but the majority looked decisive. Then, as one, they all threw off their uniforms and dropped the gang plank for use.

"We're out of here!" they all cried. Jade giggled as she watched them leave. TK appeared at her side, curious about what she was giggling about, and stared at the departing digimon with a smile on his face.

"Are they dancing?" he asked her.

"They're excited to be out of Kokatorimon's control," Jade told him.

Sora and Mimi were the next two humans to join them, followed by Matt and Izzy with the food, Joe with Gomamon in his arms, and lastly Tai who was walking with his hand resting on Agumon's head. He still looked pale, but he also looked a lot better than earlier when he was almost unconscious. The other digimon watched the Numemon running and dancing off into the distance, and Gabumon bumped against Jade's side as he asked what they were doing.

"They wanted to be free," was all she said.

"I say we do the same as them and abandon ship!" Tai suggested.

"I guess it is a little late for a mutiny," Izzy remarked without taking his eyes off the fleeing digimon.

"Don't worry, the captain has already been fricasseed," Sora reassured him.

"What?" Jade and TK asked simultaneously.

"It means we've already dealt with him," she explained with a smile. The two young children nodded their understanding before leading the way off the ship. As before, Tai brought up the rear, but this time he didn't look like he was about to keel over. Jade skipped as she walked, her feet covered in torn up sheets, but the heat still got to her. She was following the light of a crest, and it was a lot closer than it had been before.

"Well, the weather certainly hasn't gotten any cooler," Joe informed them all needlessly. Jade glanced over her shoulder at him with a glare, before that glare faded into alarm. She froze in her skip, staring back the way they had come.

"Do you hear something?" Mimi asked before she noticed Jade. Her eyes looked back the way they'd come just as the ship they had recently vacated blew its horn. Jade screamed as she turned and ran. She was fast and easily left the group behind as she almost flew over the sand. Now that she was paying attention, she could sense Kokatorimon's anger, hate and desire to kill. The bird digimon who couldn't fly had every intention of running them over and grounding their bodies into the sand.

"That's one mad digimon with his feathers out of place!" Matt cried as they ran. Jade thought he'd be better off not talking and saving his breath, but she didn't say that aloud. She just reached back and grabbed TK's hand as he was starting to slow down.

"Hey look!" Palmon screamed. "The giant cactus is back!"

"Oh no! Not another mirage!" Mimi wailed.

"What were you expecting?" Tai asked her. "An outlet mall?"

"It's not a mirage!" Jade called over her shoulder. "It has a shadow!"

It wasn't just the shadow that convinced Jade the cactus was real, it was because the cactus was where she could sense the crest. The warm green light was beckoning to her, strengthening her muscles and causing her eyes to shine that little bit brighter. As they were running, no one noticed the changes in her.

"Hurry! Get over to the other side!" Matt encouraged with a hint of panic in his voice. Jade leapt towards the shadow and lay flat on the ground with her hands protecting her head. TK dropped next to her, and the other children crouched around them.

The ship crashed into the cactus and while the two young ones couldn't see it, the others watched in amazement as the boat defied gravity. When the front of the ship hit the cactus, it stopped, but the back of the boat kept going. It rose high into the air before crashing onto the top of the cactus. The cactus didn't break, instead it acted like a giant catapult and sent the ship flying back the way it came. For the first time the children and digimon were able to see the thick black cable that was attached to the end.

_I can fly!_

The ship exploded.

Jade looked up in alarm as all sense of Kokatorimon disappeared as he was deleted. A startled gasp escaped her as she had felt all of the digimon's emotions before he was silenced. There was no anger, or hate at the end. He had felt true joy as he felt the wind rushing through his feathers, and his wings worked with the air currents, and then the fire wrapped around him. He died finally knowing what it was like to fly like any other bird-type digimon.

Tears gathered in her eyes but she didn't allow them to fall as she stood up next to TK. Her first instinct was to step closer to Tai, before remembering that she didn't trust him, and instead she moved closer to Joe. Her hand twisted in his shorts as she leant against his side, but he didn't make a big deal about her choice of comfort partner. All he did was rest his hand on her head.

"It's even bigger than a skyscraper!" Mimi cried as she stared at the very real cactus.

"You're right," Palmon told her. "But what's a skyscraper Mimi?"

Jade looked up to the top of the cactus along with everyone else. She could see the glow of pale green light as a pink flower formed. It looked small from the ground, but given the size of the cactus Jade knew that the flower was more than it appeared. The petals opened to reveal a stone tablet with the carving of a tear-drop on it.

"Look up there!" Agumon told them unnecessarily.

"Check it out you guys!" Tai ordered. "It's another crest!"

He sounded happy, and when Jade looked over towards him it was to see that he was radiating happiness. It seemed that the more crests they found, the greater Tai's hope was that they would all make it home alive. His eyes were dancing with joy, and Jade averted her eyes back to the crest in time to see it glow and slowly glide down towards them, getting smaller the closer it came.

A startled gasp from Mimi drew everyone's attention to her. Her tag had lifted from its resting place against her chest without Mimi touching it, and shone green just as the crest slid into place. The tag fell back to Mimi's chest now that it was filled, but Jade still smiled as the crest's message brushed against her thoughts.

_The crest of Sincerity – will shine for those who genuine and honest with themselves_

"What's mine Jade?" Mimi asked immediately. Her eyes left her tag and crest to look at Jade. Jade smiled at her and answered.

"Sincerity. To make it work you need to be honest and genuine with yourself, not just with others. You have to accept the truth in your heart, and actually believe it."

"What truth?" Mimi asked. "I do consider myself honest with others."

"But you're not honest with yourself," Jade prompted with a smile. "You need to be honest with yourself."

Mimi nodded thoughtfully before looking down at her crest.

"I don't deserve this," she muttered. "But if it will help me take care of Palmon, I'll keep it."

"You do deserve it," Jade promised. "Now you need to believe that."

Mimi nodded at her, and Palmon hugged Mimi's leg with a happy grin. The group decided that they would spend the night next to the cactus, and they set up camp to the west of the cactus so that when the sun rose in the morning it wouldn't cook them and they would be in the shade.

Everyone was exhausted and fell asleep quickly, everyone except for Jade. She remained awake long after the sun had set and stared up at the stars. Her greatest desire at the moment was to know the truth. She had so many questions running around through her mind that she just wanted answers. She wanted to know who she was.

"Who am I?" she asked the stars.

They twinkled back innocently, but they didn't answer.

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 12: Friendship - Knowledge - Truth**_


	12. Friendship - Knowledge - Truth

**First up: a big thanks to Okami Princess for being totally awesome. Your ideas are wonderful and every time I read another idea you've come up with I just want to write more of this story. So, longest one yet! The next chapter is half-way written so maybe it will be up in a few days. The climax of this arc is coming!**

* * *

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_The digidestined and Jade have left File Island and have arrived on the continent of Server with Whamon's help. The only thing they need to do is gather the seven crests that are scattered throughout Server, and once they have the crests their digimon partners will be able to digivolve to the Ultimate level. The crest of Courage (Tai) has been found, as has the crest of Reliability (Joe). Tai's personality took a turn for the worst and now his positive relationship with Jade looks like it's gone forever. Greymon was forced to dark digivolve into SkullGreymon and Jade drained him of his power, forcing him to then de-digivolve into Koromon. Now Mimi has her crest of Sincerity, and the group have just spent the night next to a giant cactus._

_With Etemon on their trail, they need to keep moving. They need to work together now more than ever, for true danger awaits on the horizon. __Will they have the strength to overcome it? The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 12: Friendship – Knowledge –Truth

* * *

The following morning the group was up and gone before the sun had completely risen. Tai was clearly feeling better as he and Agumon took the lead and was soon a good distance away from everyone else. The other children and digimon walked as a huddle, though Matt and Joe kept a close eye on Tai and how far away he was. Jade chose to walk next to Gabumon, and was involved in a serious conversation with about which digimon was more evil: Etemon or Devimon.

It was a harmless conversation, and the others only listened to them with half an ear. Mimi had taken the crest off from around her neck and was swinging it like a pendulum in front of her, her eyes watching as the light reflected off it. She was deep in thought about what the crest of Sincerity meant, but she couldn't help but quicken her pace slightly so that she was walking beside Joe. His eyes flickered towards her at her sudden appearance, but otherwise he kept his eyes on Tai and Agumon.

"It's beautiful, isn't it Joe?" Mimi asked him, referring to the crest in her hand. "And every crest we've found so far has been different. I wonder what the next one will be."

"Yeah, but we need to learn how to use them," Joe told her, his eyes moving to Jade this time. She was indirectly leading them towards the next crest, though she had informed them that there were two that were close together, and a third that was a short distance away from them. The blue one and the purple one were almost on top of each other, she had told them, and it was those two that they were aiming for.

"Or our digimon could digivolve all messed up, right?" Sora asked, thinking back on Agumon's dark digivolution. Jade blinked at her, also thinking about that event. She wasn't positive, but she didn't think that Tai's crest had anything to do with Agumon's digivolution. The power of the digivolution had come from Tai without being filtered through the crest. If Agumon had digivolved using the crest, Tai wouldn't have been drained of his energy.

"Yeah, but none of that really matters until we find all the crests," Matt told Sora as he stopped walking. Jade paused next to him, curious about why he had stopped. Everyone bar Tai and Agumon also stopped, but in time the two looked back curiously.

"I think you're probably right about that one, Matt," Izzy stated. "Maybe the crest power comes from having them all."

Everyone looked at Jade, as if she could answer their implied questions. She just shrugged. She had no idea if all the crests needed to be gathered or not, though she did suspect that it played a part. What she did know, however, was that each crest would only work when its holder exhibited the quality that the crest represented.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Tai called out from the front. His voice was small and only barely reached them. "We gotta move on! If you want to take some down time we need to find some shade!"

"Oh, thanks Tai," TK called up to him sarcastically. "We're right in the middle of a serious digi-conversation about the crests and everything. And then you made me forget what I was going to say! You be in charge of finding the shade. We'll catch up."

Jade shook her head at TK's order, a faint smile on her lips. She was glad that Tai was feeling better, but he needed to regain his confidence. Walking alone when he could be with the group was telling the others that he didn't want to be with them just yet, like he didn't feel ready to be a part of the group again.

Then they disappeared from sight.

"Tai!" Jade cried, before she could stop herself. She darted forward a few steps in disbelief before Matt caught her arm and stopped her from running after the two out front.

"What happened?" TK asked in fear.

"Something grabbed them from underneath!" Joe told him, looking like he too wanted to run after them. Then, from the ground rose a giant digimon that looked familiar to them all. Beetle-like in appearance, with a red shell with black lines covering the back of its head, and vicious looking fangs, was the first digimon the children had stumbled across who meant them harm.

"It's Kuwagamon!" Matt identified.

Hanging from its pincers were Tai and Agumon, and both looked suitably afraid. Kuwagamon threw back his head and with that momentum Tai and Agumon went flying as if released from a slingshot. Jade slipped from Matt's grasp and started to run. Kuwagamon was hungry, and Tai and Agumon had stumbled upon its hunting ground where it would lie in wait for its prey. Unless they acted now, and Agumon digivolved to Greymon, the two would become bug food.

Agumon pulled himself from the sand where he had landed head first, and turned around to see Kuwagamon's mouth getting closer and closer to him. Jade ran, but she couldn't feel the power that usually accompanied a digivolution, it was like Agumon was too afraid to digivolve. Tai had started to run as well from where he had landed, and he was much closer to help. Agumon had frozen in fear, and as Kuwagamon's pincers snapped closed Tai collided with his partner and flattened them both to the ground, narrowly escaping being eaten. Kuwagamon reared back before lunging forward again, and Jade knew that this time he would get them.

"NO!" she screamed. Energy bubbled under the surface of her skin and before she could think about it she threw her hand forward as if throwing a tennis ball and stumbled as energy left her. Her eyes went wide as a fireball collided with Kuwagamon, causing him to stumble back a few steps and turn to look at her. Confusion, anger and annoyance washed over her, but before she could analyse what she felt a smaller digimon with much more power appeared at the edge of her senses.

"_Pixie-bomb: Seek and destroy!"_

Jade wanted to call out her denial, she didn't want to sense what was about to happen. The small ball of energy rushed passed her like a summer wind, ruffling her hair in the process, before hitting Kuwagamon's chest. The beetle digimon was deleted instantly, his emotions muted and silence appearing in its place. Jade would have cried, but all she did was wrap her arms around herself and turn to look to where the new digimon was.

Voices called out to her, Tai and Agumon, asking if they were alright, and very faintly Jade could make out Tai asking about what had just happened. She stood up slowly, already feeling her energy return from whatever had just happened, and stared with curiosity as a tiny pink digimon with white wings, tiny arms and legs, and a spear that was no longer than her forearm, walked passed Tai and Agumon who were still lying on the ground. Jade tilted her head to the side, she had seen this digimon before.

"A powder-puff with wings!" Mimi cried with delight. Jade supposed that the pink appealed to the girl, though it wasn't the colour Jade was focused on.

"Just don't use it on your face," Sora told her as she made it to Tai's side. She and Joe helped Tai to stand, pulling on his arms until he was upright. Agumon was assisted by Gabumon.

"Where's Kuwagamon?" Joe asked.

"Maybe that's him," TK suggested, pointing to the pink digimon.

"Kuwagamon was deleted," Jade explained to them, her eyes still on the newcomer. "That blast erased his data and he's now being reconfigured in the Primary Village."

"I am no enemy, yep-yep," the pink digimon told them. "If anything, you are your own enemies, yep-yep."

"Oh, I've heard of you!" Biyomon suddenly cried in delight. It was as she was speaking that Jade finally remembered the name of the digimon. "You're the famous-"

"Piximon!" Jade cried, cutting across Biyomon.

"That's right," Biyomon said, not in the least bit upset with Jade's interruption. "Piximon is famous in the Digital World for his skills in training, but few have ever met him. His secret home is the training ground for the greatest digimon fighters. There are rumours that he taught the Sovereign how to fight."

"I've heard all about you too," Piximon told them as Mimi lifted him off the ground. She held him as if he were a stuffed toy. "But so far I'm not impressed. You seven are supposed to be the digidestined! Ha! You better be more careful or you're going to end up as digi-dinners! Yep-yep, without my spear and my magic, Kuwagamon would be eating you with a side of digi-fries!"

"That's gross, thanks a lot," Mimi scolded him.

"Jade helped before you arrived," Agumon told the little digimon.

"Little Jade wouldn't have been able to stop Kuwagamon for long as she is," Piximon told the dinosaur sternly. His gaze softened slightly as he looked at Jade. "You still have a ways to go before you find out who you are."

Jade blinked as Piximon made a reference to her question she had spoken aloud the night before. She wanted to know who she was more than anything. Did that mean that Piximon had been following them just beyond her senses?

"And that's not all, you digimon there!" Piximon continued, his expression becoming stern again as he focused on the digimon standing before the children. "You're supposed to protect the children but half the time they're protecting you! I want to see some guts! I want to see some courage!"

"This guy reminds me of a gym teacher I once had," Matt muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Tai grinned quickly, obviously understanding what teacher was being referred to, before his expression became serious again as he focused on Piximon. Palmon spoke up.

"He's right, we just don't have any guts."

"Don't we get points for enthusiasm?" Gomamon asked.

"But the news isn't all bad," Piximon told them, and Jade alone recognised the gleam in his eyes, anticipation. "Yep-yep! From now on you're all going to train with me!"

"But why?" Sora asked.

"Let's not go overboard Piximon," Tentomon began nervously.

"Especially you two guys," Piximon said, pointing to Tai and Agumon. They both gapped in disbelief. "You heard me! You need lots of help, and I have a special extreme training program just for you!"

"Did I hear him right?" Tai asked his partner.

"Sounds kind of extreme," Agumon told him.

Piximon started to walk off, ordering them to follow him without a backwards glance. Jade immediately skipped off after him. She recognised him, knew his name, but didn't know why. Maybe the little digimon would help her find out the truth about herself. The other digidestined and their digimon hesitated, but Jade knew that they would follow once they realised that they were falling behind and she was already gone.

"Little Princess, it's good to see you again," Piximon told her.

"So I have met you before," Jade stated with a sound of realisation. "I thought so."

"Gennai mentioned that your memory of us had faded," Piximon explained as he flew up to perch on her head. "But that it was returning slowly. I can help you with that."

"You can?" Jade asked with hope. "I know that there's something that I need to remember, and that it's important, but every time I think about what it could be all I find is a blank spot in my mind."

"You will know who you are in no time at all," Piximon promised. "Yep-yep! The Truth is right before you."

Jade nodded slightly, conscious of the digimon on her head, and thought about what he had said. Truth? What was the Truth? And why did it sound really important when he had said it? She bit her lip gently and twisted her hands around the shoulder straps of her back pack. Maybe Piximon was being literal, and Truth was the crest that they were making their way towards. The crest with the white gold light was what they appeared to be making their way towards, with the purple and blue crests now off to the side instead of directly in front of them.

"You know where the crests are, don't you?" Jade suddenly asked. "You're leading us towards them."

"I only know where one is," Piximon confided. "But it's not the crest of the digidestined. They are outside my home. The one I have was a gift from Gennai after the boundary between the Digital World and the Shadow World broke."

"Shadow World?" Jade asked curiously. "How many worlds are there?"

"In time, you will know," was all the pink digimon said. He then turned on her head to yell back towards the digidestined and their digimon who were still discussing whether or not they should follow Piximon. "Would you all just hurry up?!"

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Mimi asked with a pout an hour later. This time it was only Jade and Piximon who had separated from the group, and the others were walking together in a clump. It was like they were torn between keeping a respectful distance and staying close by to Jade in case she needed their help.

"Just a little further!" Piximon called back cheerfully. Jade giggled. It hadn't taken long for the 'are we there yet?' questions to start, and it probably hadn't helped that Piximon was very vague in his responses.

"That's about the seventh time you've said that," Joe muttered just loud enough for the two up front to hear.

"I think he's lost," Matt told Joe seriously.

"So what do we do?" Tai asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Ask a cactus for directions?"

"Ice-cream…cold root beer…" Sora moaned longingly. It was hot in the sun, and Piximon hadn't let them stop for a break.

"Stop that!" everyone ordered Sora.

"How far _do_ we have to go?" Jade asked softly, her curiosity getting the better of her. Piximon just chuckled before projecting his voice so that all could hear him.

"Halt! We have arrived! Yep-yep!"

Jade stopped walking instantly, her eyes darting around to see what was different about this spot in the distance. It appeared like just another spot in the desert, but when she stretched out her senses she could pick up a faint…something…in the air that wasn't present anywhere else. She wanted to walk forward a little further to reach out and touch the something, but Piximon leapt off her head before she could move.

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, longing still in her tone of voice as she thought about various cold beverages. "There isn't anything here."

"_Pixie Portal_!" Piximon cried mischievously. He spun his little staff around in his hands and right in front of the group appeared a ripple in the air. It ripped open a hole where a jungle could be seen. Jade felt her jaw drop open, and she darted forward quickly to touch the portal wall.

"It's a hole in the desert!" Mimi announced with surprise.

"Am I the only one who thinks this looks like trouble?" Joe asked, his eyes focused on Jade and her curious actions.

"Actually, it's just my front door," Piximon reassured them as he settled on Jade's head again. "Come on in now quickly, before it closes. Yep-yep."

The group walked forward and stepped carefully through the hole. Jade was already inside waiting for them, and her smile did more to reassure them than anything Piximon said. She skipped forward a little, laughing as Piximon was forced to grip her hair so that he didn't fall off, and tried to look at everything.

"Cool," Tai stated after a few minutes' walk. "A jungle inside a desert, that's something you don't see every day."

"I bet you have lots of friends who want to play with you," TK wagered as he jogged to walk beside Jade and Piximon. The little digimon looked down from Jade's head and grinned slightly as he noticed that Tokomon was at the same height as he was.

"You should have seen it when I first got it," he told the boy. "I think Jade and I spent a month just trying to find a way to make travel easy."

"You and Jade?" Izzy asked curiously.

"Oh sure, but I think I got more work done after Jade went off to play with the other digimon. She was far more interested in playing hide 'n' seek than clearing away the debris."

Jade smiled brilliantly as Piximon spoke. His words were creating images in her mind, and up ahead she could imagine seeing herself running around the trees and bushes, while Piximon chased her in fear that she would hurt herself if she disappeared from his sight for too long. TK laughed, clearly imagining playing in the jungle with Tokomon and the other digimon.

"Heads up!" Sora suddenly ordered fearfully. "Look behind us guys!"

Sixteen heads swivelled to look back towards the desert, and most gasped as they recognised a large Monochromon pulling a silver trailer across the sand. Jade said nothing, but her smile had disappeared and she narrowed her eyes at the sight.

"Oh no! It's Etemon and his trailer!" Mimi wailed, stumbling back slightly.

"Oh boy, this is bad," Joe stated, stepping forward so that he was standing in front of the younger children. Jade wouldn't let him do that, and stepped up to his side and took his wrist in her hand. Piximon was still sitting on her head, but he didn't appear to be worried about the danger.

"And right outside the front door he is too," Piximon muttered. Jade heard the awareness in his tone, and realised that if they had kept up with their former travel path, they would have walked right towards their enemy. Piximon's arrival had saved their lives.

"Huh?" Joe asked, his hand twisting slightly so that instead of his wrist in Jade's grasp, he was holding her hand.

"Don't worry. He isn't able to see through the barrier," Piximon reassured him, his voice carrying to all ears. "He sees nothing but desert. Yep-yep! Let's keep going."

Joe was the first to turn away, and he kept Jade close to his side as they walked. Piximon left her head and started to fly ahead of them, but Jade's attention was now focused on their near miss. Had Piximon known that they were in danger and interfered so that they would be safe? Or was it all a coincidence? Jade could have pointed out the location of any of the other six crests that she could sense, but she had chosen the two that were closest together. If they had been caught, would that have been her fault for leading them into danger?

"I can hear you thinking," Joe whispered to her. "Whatever it is, it's not your fault."

"If Piximon hadn't saved us, we would have walked right into Etemon, and it would be because I chose what way we would walk," Jade told him quietly.

"No matter what way we would have gone, Etemon would have found us sooner or later," Joe continued. "We are upsetting his Dark Network, he wants us dead for whatever reason. He nearly succeeded at the colosseum, and because of you we all survived. Piximon's arrival just means that we will face Etemon later as opposed to sooner."

Jade smiled up at him gratefully, but while part of the weight of their near miss was removed from her shoulders, she was still haunted by the 'could have been' scenario. What if she chose poorly next time? Would they be strong enough to survive? All of them?

"Oh wow!" TK cried, his voice breaking into her thoughts. "That's a lot of stairs!"

"Alright everybody, home we are!" Piximon announced cheerfully. "My house is just up these steps!"

"We have to walk up there?" Joe asked in disbelief, his head tilting back in the hopes that he would be able to see the top.

"But I didn't bring my stair climbing sneakers," Mimi told Piximon seriously.

"Yeah…and I just remembered, I'm afraid of heights," Tai added. Jade thought about that and a small smile spread across her face. She did recall Tai telling her that heights made him uncomfortable, but so far he had been able to hide his unease from the others. She figured that when he had been airborne he just hadn't looked down.

"Surely from a logical standpoint, it doesn't look very safe," Izzy theorised. His face had gone a shade paler at the thought of climbing as well.

"Is this part of our training?" Sora asked hesitantly.

"Exactly!" Piximon told them in delight. Jade stared up at the stairs even as the others around her slumped to the ground in despair.

"Was that here when I was here last?" she asked curiously.

"Nope," Piximon answered with a smile. "I had it built after the darkness invaded. It was part of the training for several other digimon. Only took them a year."

Jade nodded, her eyes still searching for the top of the stairs. Tentomon flew up higher, not looking in the least disheartened at the thought of climbing the stairs.

"Hey, no sweat," he said. "I'll just fly up there. Before you know it I'll be chilling by the pool while you guys –"

"Oh, by the way, did I mention that there will be no flying by anyone during all my training?" Piximon asked him slyly. Tentomon groaned and joined the others on the ground in a slump. Jade was now the only person still standing, and she was looking at the others in amusement.

"Haven't you rookies learned that sometimes the easy way is a trap?" Piximon asked them, a hint of disapproval in his tone. "Now let's move out!"

"I guess Piximon never heard of elevators," Joe muttered as he stood to climb the stairs. He reached out and grabbed Jade's hand as he moved, ensuring that she would stay with the group and wouldn't wander close to the side and fall off the edge.

They climbed, and climbed, and climbed. The sun, which had been above them when they entered Piximon's jungle, was now sinking below the horizon. With the greater height that they were now at, it meant that had they still been walking in the desert the sun would have already well and truly set.

"Don't tell me you're all tired?" Piximon asked. "Don't give up yet. You see, you've almost arrived!"

All eight children and digimon looked ahead. They were all tired, they were all hungry, and they were ready to drop. The thought of reaching their destination was enough to make it the last hundred or so stairs.

"That's his place?" Joe asked, staring at a colosseum type structure. None of them had fond memories of the last colosseum they had been in.

"That's right, and there's plenty of food for all!" Piximon told them.

Cheers echoed around the stairs and everyone managed to run the rest of the way. They didn't stop until they entered the closest door and ran out onto a walkway that stretched around the outside of the building. In the middle was a life-like sculpture of Piximon, many times larger than the original. Jade hung off the railing and quickly countered how many levels the building had. She counted four before her attention was drawn back to the conversation between Piximon and the others.

Apparently, Piximon wouldn't provide food for them until they had earned it. They were supposed to scrub the floors of his home so that they would shine. Everyone complained, but when Tai, Agumon and Jade picked up a bucket each they were requested not to. They had another assignment that they would need to complete before being allowed food. Jade slowly put her bucket down, wondering if Piximon wanted her and Tai to work together to do whatever he had in mind.

"I have a special chore for you three," Piximon said as he flew off.

"Oh great," Tai mumbled as he followed. "We probably have to paint the place."

"I'm better at cleaning!" Jade called after Piximon, following him with a slight bounce in her step so that she could catch up. Piximon didn't answer her, but behind them she could hear the others starting to work on the floors. She was glad that she didn't have to clean, but making the others do it while they were separated didn't seem like a fair idea. Especially now, Tai needed to learn to work with others and not on his own, that's what got them into trouble in the first place.

"Alright you two, this is the place. Yep-yep!" Piximon announced. "Stay here Jade, I'll be back in a minute."

Jade nodded and watched as Piximon led Tai and Agumon into a dark cave. She rocked back onto her heels, staring at the steadily darkening sky, and thought about what task Piximon had for her that was different to everyone else's. She didn't have to wait long as Piximon returned quickly enough and lead her to a small wooden house that was almost invisible against the side of the colosseum. The two of them entered.

"What's this place?" Jade asked curiously as she ran her fingers over the dusty furniture. Her eyes found a photo frame that was covered in dust, so she lifted it and brushed off the dust to see the photo. Her eyes widened as she saw a younger version of herself holding a black kitten-type digimon in her arms, surrounded by Gennai, Andromon, a white digimon that's top half was like that of a fox and lower half was a ghost-like tail and gold markings, a purple and white part kangaroo, part wolf and part fox digimon with bat-like wings, a red and black dinosaur type digimon, and finally, a boy in yellow with a purple cape and hat who looked just like a wizard.

"Who are all these people?" she asked Piximon.

"They were your friends, when you were last here," Piximon told her. "That photo was taken a few weeks before you left us."

"I don't remember them," she admitted.

"That doesn't surprise me," Piximon stated as he flew to a shelf high off the ground. He pulled a necklace off the shelf and flew back down to hand it to Jade. She looked at it with wide eyes, gently setting down the photo on the table. In Piximon's hand was a tag and crest, but this crest was the one that was white and gold.

"The crest of Truth," Piximon told her. "You don't have to take it, but it is yours. Gennai gave this to me after you were deleted. He said that it would unlock your memories, but that you needed to accept this willingly. I don't know if it will show you everything, but it will allow you to remember what is most important."

Jade nodded and tentatively reached out for the tag and crest. She could learn the truth about herself and find out why everyone seemed to know her. Once and for all she would know what it was about her that was so important. But still she hesitated. Did she want to know her past? Was she ready to know?

"I want to know," she whispered as her hand wrapped around the tag and crest. Instantly she was pulled into her memories, and she was only faintly aware of her body falling to the ground. All that mattered was what she could see in her mind. This was her story:

* * *

_Jade was six and lying at the bottom of the stairs in a crumpled heap. She didn't even have the energy to cry, and didn't make a sound as Uncle Vernon lifted her and threw her into her cupboard. All she could do was curl up into a ball and wish, as she had done many times before, for someone to save her. She had wished to be saved often, but no one had ever come, and she was losing hope. She knew that she was dying, but she didn't mind. She always thought that if she died she would be with her parents again, and then maybe she would know what love was._

_As time passed in her cupboard, she could feel her body growing weaker and weaker. Her eyes focused on a dark smudge of her cupboard door, and soon that smudge was all she could see. In time though, even that faded from her sight and her eyes closed. She wished with all her might that when her eyes opened she wouldn't be in her cupboard, that she would be somewhere where she would be loved._

_With her eyes closed Jade imagined that strong arms were lifting her and holding her against a warm chest. She imagined that the arms around her were a shield from the rest of the world, and that they were carrying her away from her nightmare. There was a wind brushing against her face, and it was warm and comforting, and the sound of wings threaded their way into her imagination too. A voice, soft and childlike but also strong and confident, went through one ear and out the other like a lullaby. Her aunt had never sung to her, but sometimes she imaged her mother singing for her. The voice, while male, was familiar to her._

_Eventually her body came down and was placed onto something soft. Jade never wanted to wake from this dream, she wanted it to go on for forever. A hand brushed her fringe off her face, pausing momentarily on her forehead where she knew she had a scar from the car crash that killed her parents. It left after a moment and Jade sunk further into oblivion. She would stay here for as long as she could, and she never wanted to leave._

* * *

_Jade opened her eyes with a sigh before sitting up with a gasp. She had expected to still be in her cupboard, but she was in a large room with off-white walls, a large bed she was lying in, a couch off to the side of the room, a bookcase full of books and pictures of animals that she had never seen before. A young man was sitting on the end of her bed, but she didn't feel scared when she spotted him. He was wearing a white robe, his hair was a soft brown colour and short, and he was grinning at her._

_"Welcome to the Digital World," he said once her attention was on him. "We were wondering if you would ever wake up."_

_"Where am I?" Jade asked curiously. "What happened?"_

_"You were very badly hurt when we brought you here," the man continued. "You've been here for about two weeks. Did you fall down some stairs or something?"_

_"Dudley pushed me…" Jade murmured. "But I was in my cupboard. How did I get here?"_

_"Your cry for help attracted the attention of one of our Guardians. He brought you to our God, who then sent you to me so I've been working hard to heal you. Do you feel better?"_

_"A lot," Jade admitted in confusion. "I don't think I've ever felt this good."_

_"That's good. The digimon are curious about meeting you," the man continued. "Would you like to come and meet them?"_

_Jade had no idea what digimon were, but nonetheless nodded and slipped off the bed. She was wearing a white nightie that reached her ankles and sleeves that reached her wrists. Her hair hung in tangles down her back, but that was normal and didn't bother her, and her feet were bare. She followed the man through numerous corridors until they walked out into a courtyard. Little animals played with each other, but as soon as they appeared the little animals cheered._

_They were the cutest things that Jade had ever seen, and she eagerly walked forward and picked up the nearest animal that sort of resembled a kitten. It even purred like a kitten when she scratched behind its ears, and Jade giggled. With the not-kitten in her arms she turned to look at the man who was watching her with a wide smile._

_"Who are you?"_

_"I am Gennai."_

* * *

_Gennai spent almost all of his time with Jade, teaching her how to look after the little animals. They were referred to as digimon, and each digimon had a different name that also explained what it was. For example, the not-kitten Jade had picked up was called Salamon, but there was more than one Salamon so it got a bit confusing when Jade wanted to call a particular Salamon over to have its health checked._

_Jade learnt that she could heal the little digimon by just running her hands over them and focusing really hard. Gennai had praised her when he caught her doing that, something that had shocked Jade because if her aunt or uncle had caught her doing that they would have beaten her black and blue. But no, anything that she could do that wasn't considered normal, Gennai loved. He was always trying to find out the extent of what she could do and Jade was always trying to live up to his expectations._

_He started to call her Little Princess, something that the digimon started to call her as well. Jade didn't mind, she felt like a princess in this world. Her clothes fit her, and she always had something different to wear every day. Every morning she would play with the baby digimon, and they would tell her stories about the Digital World. One day, about a month since she had woken up, another digimon came to see her but this one was different._

_He looked like a little boy, taller than her but shorter than Gennai. He also had wings, eight of them. His wrists and ankles had a gold brace on each, and his hair was a light blond colour. He wore a white sheet that covered his right shoulder, tied around his waist, and flowed down his legs to his knees. His left shoulder had a purple tattoo that covered the left side of his chest, left arm and his left cheek. His eyes were a bright blue, and when he spoke Jade felt safe._

_"Hi," she whispered._

_"Hello Little Princess," he said, his voice soothing her like no other could. "I trust Gennai has been looking after you?"_

_"Yes," Jade said with a nod. "What's your name?"_

_"You may call me Lucemon," he said. "I am a Guardian of the Digital World."_

* * *

_Lucemon visited Jade every day after that first visit. Sometimes he would go flying with her sitting on his back, nestled safely between his wings. She had fallen in love with flying, there was nothing that she enjoyed better, and the stories that Lucemon told were even better. He was more than just a Guardian of the Digital World, he was the Guardian of the Digital World. Gennai told her afterwards that he was the God he had spoken about on the day she woke up._

_Every digimon was his to protect, and over the past few centuries that had been getting harder and harder. A war was breaking out between the light digimon and the dark digimon and Lucemon couldn't be with everyone at the same time. The dark digimon were gaining strength, and unless something was done to satisfy them, and keep them satisfied, the Digital World and all joined worlds would be annihilated._

_Jade felt sorry for him, but as she was only six she had no idea how to help him._

_The answer came one night when Jade was having a nightmare. The scar on her forehead, the one that looked like a lightning bolt and the only thing she had to remember her parents, was burning her. Lucemon and Gennai worked together to remove the scar, and during the purifying process a darkness leeched from her forehead and became a digi-egg. The digi-egg was as dark as the night sky and Lucemon informed Gennai that the digimon in that digi-egg was pure evil._

_When Jade woke several hours later she knew that something had changed. She felt lighter and cleaner, but also empty. She wandered around her home until she found Lucemon and Gennai staring at a black digi-egg. As soon as she saw that egg she knew that it was hers, and nothing could stop her from getting to it. She took care of it, made sure that it was warm and that no one hurt it._

_To protect her when it hatched Lucemon gave her a gift. This gift was an orb barely bigger than her palm but glowed with a gold and white light. In the middle of the orb was a picture of what appeared to be an eye with five triangles above it as lashes and a diamond in the centre. Looking closer Jade could see that inside the diamond was a lightning bolt, just like her scar. She looked up at Lucemon in confusion and asked him what the orb was._

_"This orb was gifted to me long ago," Lucemon explained. "A friend of mine, Phoenixmon, was struck down by dark digimon who hated her for her lightness. She was the Guardian of Truth, and she gave this to me and told me that I should give it to someone who is honest, and knows how to respect truth. This, should you accept it and it accepts you, will protect you from the darkness of the digimon in that digi-egg."_

_Jade nodded, and held the orb close to her chest. It felt warm, and she let out a gasp when it was absorbed into her chest. It was like her whole body was suddenly on fire, but it didn't hurt. In that moment Jade knew everything about Phoenixmon, and in that moment, she became Phoenixmon. Her eyes flared brightly, the green becoming even more vibrant than usual. She grew until she was six feet tall._

_She was wearing a strapless pale gold dress that stopped just above her knees at the front, but at the back the dress stopped mid-calf. On each upper arm was a golden cuff, and there was a golden bangle on each wrist. Her hair was pale with strands on gold and red scattered throughout to make give it a shimmering appearance. A golden staff was held in her right hand, and it rested serenely on the ground. Wings of fire had burst forth from her back, and now rested peacefully without burning anyone._

_The only thing about her that hadn't changed was her eyes._

_"I didn't expect that," Lucemon admitted. Phoenixmon looked down at Lucemon with a smile before lifting the black digi-egg._

_"Now I can protect the digimon with you," she said serenely._

_"And a lot more I imagine," Lucemon said with a laugh. "And the digi-egg?"_

_"My darker half," Phoenixmon explained. "I suppose you could say that I cannot live without him."_

* * *

_A week after Jade accepted the gift of Truth her digi-egg hatched. A little ball-like digimon, pure black in colour with a tail that forked at the end and blood red eyes, fell into her hands and she knew instantly that as long as they were together they would never be lonely again. His name was Slymon. Slymon hated every other digimon Jade looked after, but he would sit on her head and not bother any of them._

_A week after that Slymon digivolved into Riddlemon: a kitten-like digimon with a forked tail, blood red eyes and a mottled black coat. His ears were two little triangles on top of his head that Jade just loved to scratch when they were in their room and there was no one around to see Riddlemon act like a kitten._

_Lucemon had decided on what to do with the approaching war, and that was train Jade and Riddlemon to succeed him. He governed over more than just the Digital World, he also governed over what he called the Shadow World. Jade would rule over the Digital World and protect the light that kept the Digital World alive. Riddlemon, on the other hand, would rule over the Shadow World and give sanctuary to the digimon and dark creatures that needed the darkness to survive._

_It was the most serious Jade had ever seen Riddlemon act since his hatching. She gathered that he really wanted to rule over the darkness._

_Part way through their training, and Jade practicing to become Phoenixmon whenever she could, Riddlemon digivolved again. Tomomon was definitely feline, and could probably blend in with the Real World should she ever bring him with her. The only differences were that his tail was still forked, his ears were much bigger, and his front paws had four extremely sharp claws ready to use at any moment. But when he curled up with her at the end of the day, Jade didn't see the monster that everyone else did, she saw her best friend and soul mate._

* * *

_The war was getting worse. Tomomon and Jade spent a lot of their time with either Lucemon so that they could learn about the digimon they were supposed to protect and keep in order, or with Gennai so that they could learn about the Digital World and the Shadow World. Gennai had originally been a digidestined during the last Great War, and it was he and his friends Jade had only met a few times who managed to save the Digital World from eternal damnation. Even now they were trying to fix the horror the war had caused._

_Centuries had passed since the Great War, but a side effect was that the timeline between the Human World and the Digital World was out of sync. According to Gennai, twenty years had passed in the Human World since the digidestined had been summoned to help them. Of the five humans who had been summoned, Gennai hadn't left the Digital World, one had died, and the other three had gone their separate ways._

_But there was a prophecy that spoke of a great evil returning that had Gennai and his friends worried. The outcome of their final battle still had dire consequences for the survivors, but they also knew that they couldn't return. Thus, a new hope was created._

_On some days Jade helped Gennai look after eight special digi-eggs. These eggs contained the hope for the future, for they would be the partners of the new digidestined. The eight of them had already been chosen, and when the time was right they would be pulled into the Digital World. Gennai had personally chosen each of the new digidestined, and he told Jade that he hoped that others would respect his choice. When Jade was with Gennai and the digi-eggs, Tomomon was with Lucemon learning about the darkness and how to conquer it. They would spend their time jumping to and from the Digital World and the Shadow World._

_It was on one day like this that Lucemon snapped. The strain of controlling both the darkness and the light in the Digital World had torn him apart and twisted him into something ugly. He was powerful, and as much as Jade hated to do it, she and Tomomon teamed up together and imprisoned Lucemon where he couldn't hurt anyone any more. Tomomon digivolved into his Champion form Horcruxmon, to win the battle and save Jade's life, for he couldn't live without her._

_Horcruxmon was Phoenixmon's opposite. He was an angel digimon, like her, but his wings were black as night, his outfit consisted of black material wrapped around his arms and chest, black pants and black boots that reached his knees. A silver staff was in his grip, but this staff was tipped with a cross and a sphere in the junction of the cross. Inside the sphere was the symbol of Darkness: a M with sharp points on either side and one reaching up from the middle of the letter. Beneath it was two more triangles, and looking at it Jade could feel the coldness it represented._

_Phoenixmon had the symbol of Truth on the tip of her staff, and she knew that the two of them would forever be linked together._

_Just before he was sealed forever, Lucemon thanked the two of them and wished them luck in ruling the Worlds. The four Guardians that guarded the North, South, East, and West supported the new rulers, and for a while at least there was peace in the Digital World and the Shadow World._

* * *

_Phoenixmon and Horcruxmon were in different Worlds as they tried to maintain peace. Unfortunately, on Horcruxmon's part, there was a group of dark digimon who called themselves the Dark Masters and had no desire to listen to their new ruler. They banded together and travelled to the Digital World where Phoenixmon was playing with the baby digimon, and slaughtered all of them. Phoenixmon saw the destruction around her and released her power explosively. Every digimon with darkness in their hearts, and those who followed the Dark Masters, were banished from the Digital World back to the Shadow World._

_But the damage was done. All the baby digimon were dead. Gennai held Jade as she cried, and it was her tears that made it possible for them to be reborn. Digi-eggs rained from the sky, and Phoenixmon and Gennai carried them all to File Island where they created the Primary Village. This village would be where all digimon were reborn, and it was off limits to all digimon who deemed it a threat._

_The title Protector sprung up from the digimon who saw what she had done, and how she was looking after the young digimon. Phoenixmon spent some time on File Island, greeting all the digimon there and protecting them from several dark digimon who wanted to finish what the Dark Masters had started._

* * *

_Two and a half years had passed since Jade entered the Digital World for the first time. She was confident and happy with herself, and saw Gennai as a father as he would look after her whenever he had the chance. Yet despite how much time had passed, she still looked like the six year old she had been when she first appeared. Gennai explained that it was because time had pretty much stopped in her world. The timelines differed greatly, so for the time that she had been in the Digital World, a few hours at most had passed in the Human World._

_Her digimon partner preferred to spend most of his time as Tomomon so that he could curl up with her. He never wanted anything to change, though he did admit that he felt something was missing._

_Jade had made several close friends among the digimon, and these digimon were different because once upon a time they had been the digimon partners of the first digidestined. Andromon had been Gennai's partner, and the only one who maintained a constant contact with his formally human partner. He lived on File Island, protecting the digimon there and watching over the newly hatched digimon before they began their travels over the rest of the world. Guilmon was a little red dinosaur who loved to play. He would go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and the only person he would listen to was his human partner (according to Gennai). Jade loved to play with him._

_Kudamon was a wise digimon who was a bit of a perfectionist. He was pure white in colour with gold markings, and he often flew around the northern parts of the Digital World to protect the little digimon there. Whilst small, Kudamon was also very powerful. Dorumon was a painfully shy digimon with a long tail, claws on both his hands and feet, and a head that resembled that of a wolf. He was very kind and caring towards Jade, but the other digimon didn't like him much. The final digimon was Wizardmon, but he never played with Jade. He would watch her with silent purple eyes, and once Jade noticed that whenever he would look at her he would cry. Gennai told her not to take it personally, and all he said was that Wizardmon's partner had been killed and he was still reeling from her loss._

_Only once had the five digimon, Gennai and Tomomon been together in order to have a photo taken with Jade. She had it framed, and looked at it every morning before she went out to look after the Digital World._

_The dark digimon were doing well under Horcruxmon's rule, and they were trying to deal with the Dark Masters on their own, but it seemed that the Dark Masters were more of a nuisance than first thought. They were causing a disturbance wherever they went, and Horcruxmon left his partner so he could deal with them._

_While he was gone Jade was sitting with the digi-eggs and making sure that they were getting stronger. One of the Dark Masters, an evil clown called Piedmon, attacked the facility and it was only through sheer luck and perseverance that Jade was able to get the digi-eggs to Gennai. Gennai took the eggs and the digivices and flew off to File Island where Piedmon couldn't follow just yet._

_Piedmon had the tags and crests of each of the future digidestined in his hands, so Jade transformed into Phoenixmon and did what she thought would be the best thing…she took the crests but left the tags._

_Piedmon was defeated, eventually, but it wasn't until Horcruxmon turned up did he leave. Horcruxmon helped Phoenixmon hide the crests over the continent of Server, not knowing why she wanted to hide them there of all places, but he trusted her. She was his everything, and knew that if it hadn't been for her his digi-egg would have been shattered before he had a chance to live._

_"Master," Horcruxmon began as the crest of Courage was set in stone near a Koromon village. Phoenixmon looked at him curiously, waiting for him to continue. "I have a bad feeling about the Dark Masters. They're up to something but nothing I do seems to be able to control them."_

_"My Lord," Phoenixmon told him, a smile on her face as she knew he hated being called that by her. "When the times comes we will fight them, together, and we will win."_

_"My Lady," Horcruxmon replied, a smirk on his face at his new endearment. "What would I do without you?"_

_"Probably live in misery until we are reunited," Phoenixmon told him with a laugh._

_"Then I hope I never have to live without you."_

_"Me too."_

* * *

_The final day of Phoenixmon's life in the Digital World arrived a few weeks after that conversation. The two of them were on File Island, though it was decided that Tomomon would be a better form for the time being. Phoenixmon was flying around, visiting her friends and making sure that everything was running smoothly, when she was attacked unexpectedly. She fought back against Piedmon, annoyed at him more than anything, but at a critical moment in the battle she was distracted by Tomomon on the ground._

_Tomomon had been cornered by one of the other Dark Masters, but in his current form he was no match for them and was getting hurt, a lot. In that moment of distraction Piedmon struck, his knife plunging into her chest, and she fell to the ground. Seeing his Master, creator, best friend and soul mate plunge to what would surely be her death infuriated Tomomon so much that he digivolved into his Ultimate form: Grimmon. Grimmon was a giant of a man who greatly resembled the Grim Reaper. His staff changed to that of a scythe, and from under his hood two bright red eyes could be seen._

_By the time he was done part of File Island was devastated. The Dark Masters fled, and Grimmon dropped his scythe in order to lift Phoenixmon into his arms. She bled out in his arms and her body became data particles. Before disappearing completely she promised that one day she would return and that he was to live his life the best that he could._

* * *

_Jade opened her eyes and almost cried. She had had the best dream ever. Someone had come and rescued her from her miserable life, held her when she cried and taught her how to live, but it was nothing but a dream. She was in her cupboard and it would only be a matter of time before Aunt Petunia was calling for her to make breakfast. She wished that her dream had been real, but there was no such thing as magic, her mind was just playing tricks on her._

_What she didn't notice, and wouldn't notice for several years at least, was that her dream had left something behind on her. On her back, between her shoulder blades, was a faint symbol. In time she would recognise it as the symbol of Truth, and when the time came it would glow. But for now, she was alone in a world where no one liked her._

_She was alone again._

* * *

Tai and Agumon floated aimlessly down a river of nothing but faint images and sounds in a small boat. They were hopelessly lost, and all Tai could think about was everything he had ever done wrong. His sister had gotten sick because of him and nearly died, even his mother knew that it was his fault, otherwise she wouldn't have hit him. His dad sometimes stared at him with such disappointment, and no matter how hard Tai tried in sports he never seemed able to earn the man's approval. A few years ago he had nearly killed three boys who were little more than children, and he knew that his mother knew it was him. She had that look in her eyes when she saw right through what was being told. Even though Kari had explained it as a freak accident, Tai had still been grounded for a week.

And then there was his digimon partner. It seemed that no matter who they were facing, or how great the danger was, Agumon was always getting hurt trying to save his life. He had no idea what he had done to deserve such a faithful friend, and then he had forced him to endure what all digimon considered a traumatic experience. He had forced him to dark digivolve into a monster, who had then gone off and hurt their friends. But the little digimon had forgiven him, when he had no right to deserve forgiveness.

Jade. He knew that she was abused, even if she never said anything about her home life. He could see that they didn't treat her right, and that she longed for someone to care about her. And what had he done? He'd gone ahead and slapped her. It was no wonder that she wouldn't even look at him anymore. He missed her silent presence by his side, it had made the nightmare they were living in, a little more bearable.

Agumon was thinking along similar lines to his partner. His thoughts, however, were on how he had let his friends down. From the moment they had hatched, the then-Koromon had done his best to make sure that they stayed together while they were waiting for their human partners. There had been a few near misses with the larger digimon who were hungry, but he figured that he'd done alright keeping them alive.

He was the first one who had hatched, and he had seen the darkness flood over File Island. The scream of pain, desperation and loss still made him tremble at night when all was silent. He had no idea who the digimon was, but he did know that that digimon was far more powerful than any they had come across. He was dangerous.

The others had hatched after the dark digimon had disappeared and had no idea what they had missed. Agumon had never told them. Years and years passed before their human partners arrived, and almost immediately the children were afraid of everything they saw. Agumon had wanted Tai to love his home, wanted to show him all the greatest parts of File Island where they could play forever, but he had never gotten the chance.

Devimon had tried to kill them, and everything the children and digimon were exposed to was dangerous. And then during that final battle, when Devimon had Tai in his hand and was squeezing, Agumon was completely helpless. He had a sudden awareness about how the dark digimon had felt when he hatched, all the fear and desperation he felt was balling up in his chest, and he knew that if Tai had died he would have screamed as well. Then Angemon was deleted.

Everything had gotten that much more dangerous.

They had gone to get Jade, and while Agumon had done his best to reassure Tai about what Devimon had told him, he was silently worried. The darkness that Devimon had sensed, that power, wasn't present with the other children. There was something in Tai, a ball of darkness that from time to time would make itself known, and Agumon had a feeling that Tai knew there was something different about him. And then that darkness had forced him to digivolve.

He was afraid of Tai, Agumon realized with sorrow. If Tai got angry enough again in the future, would Agumon be forced to dark digivolve again? It had hurt last time, and he didn't want to. But if he never digivolved again Tai could get hurt, like what had happened with Kuwagamon.

What should he do?

* * *

Matt and Izzy hung from the rope of the well easily enough. They had followed their tags to the well, and the only downside was that the well was outside of Piximon's home. But they had gone ahead to get them, and the pale blue and bright purple colours of their crests blinded them until they were safely locked in their tags. Matt looked at his blue crest curiously, wondering what it was, and made a mental note to ask Jade later.

Thoughts of Jade made him frown. She hadn't returned before they retired for the night, and neither had Tai or Agumon. Three of their number was missing, and when the others woke they could possibly think that Piximon was taking them down one by one. And putting Tai and Jade together, surely Piximon hadn't been that blind that he hadn't noticed how Jade wouldn't even look at Tai?

"You're thinking about the others again, aren't you?" Izzy asked curiously as they started to climb back up the rope again.

"Piximon knows Jade, from before," Matt muttered. "And she has some memory of him, which is why we decided to trust him."

"Yeah…" Izzy continued. "But the fact that she, Tai and Agumon never returned has you worried."

"Well, yeah, but that's not all I'm worried about. You never really got to know Tai at school, you were always in the library, but Tai has never been violent. He usually goes out of his way to help others, and his confidence makes him a great soccer player. For him to have hit Jade, a girl who he cares about and worries about all the time, was a shock to all of us."

"You think something's wrong with him?"

"I think that there's more to Tai than I first thought," Matt admitted as he reached the top of the well, moving aside so that Izzy could get out too. "He's hiding something, from all of us, and I think that unless we know about it, it's going to put all of us in danger."

"You're afraid of him?"

"For him," Matt corrected. "If he lets his emotions get out of hand like he did with Jade, he's going to destroy himself."

The two of them looked up as a shadow covered them, and both of them felt all colour drain from their face as fear crept into their minds. Standing before them was a giant dinosaur type digimon with red skin, a white belly, and really sharp teeth. Black cables were attached to his body, and it was those cables that told the two that they were in trouble.

"Run!" Matt ordered as he pushed Izzy towards where the secret jungle was. Etemon had found them, and they needed to get to safety. Behind them came an explosion, and then there was heat at their backs, they were through the invisible wall, and then they were flying as the wall shattered under the digimon's fire attack.

"You alive Izzy?" Matt asked as he forced himself to his feet.

"I think so," Izzy muttered as he also stood. "Maybe we should get back to the others before we get cooked?"

Matt nodded, grabbed Izzy's hand, and soon they were running as fast as their legs could carry them back to Piximon's home. Behind them, gaining on them, was the dinosaur digimon, and just when they thought that they were goners they heard the welcome cries of their friends. They turned and ran towards them, but as they ran they noticed that they were still missing a few crucial members of their team.

Etemon used his projection holograms to appear before them, and once again he had his guitar in his hands. He strummed it a few times and the digimon trembled slightly, but prepared to digivolve anyway.

"This is a song I call: _Bye Bye Digimon, Bye Bye_," Etemon informed them as he played a few more cords. This time the digimon dropped to the ground in sudden exhaustion. Matt darted to Gabumon's side even though all the children knew what had happened and that there was nothing they could do.

"My power's been drained," Tentomon moaned.

"It zapped them, so they can't digivolve," Izzy muttered, kicking the dirt in frustration. "He did this last time as well."

The dinosaur digimon, Tyrannomon according to Piximon, fired a blast of fire at them. Piximon darted in front of the children, shielding them from the blast, but his attention was more on Tai and Agumon. They needed to get back to the group, and Piximon was concerned about how long it was taking for them to regain their ability to fight. They were needed, and Piximon alone knew how important those two were. If they weren't around anymore, the digidestined would fall apart.

* * *

"I remember this park," Tai informed his partner as a park appeared in the distance. Agumon looked at him curiously, as those were the first words that Tai had spoken since they entered the cave and woke up on the water. The boat came to a stop next to a grassy area, and Tai got out and walked forward so that he could see what was happening. Agumon leapt out after him, curious about what was so important about this park that Tai felt he needed to see it.

"Leave me alone!" a young and female voice cried. It was faint, but Tai recognised it and started to run in the direction of the cry.

"Aww, is the wittle baby going to cry?" mocked an older male voice. Agumon was running now too, this is what they needed to see.

"She is!" cried another. "What are you going to do, baby? Run home to mama?"

There was laughter, and Tai picked up speed. He knew what was about to happen, he had to stop it, she would get hurt if he didn't do anything. He and Agumon burst into a clearing to see three boys crowding around a young girl, and one of the boys was holding a thick tree branch that he had found on the ground.

"You made my sister cry yesterday," the last boy said coldly. "Said that you thought you were too good to play with her. All she wanted was to be your friend, but noooo, Little Miss Perfect Kari has no time to play with anyone."

"Back off you creeps! Leave my sister alone!" a new voice cried out. Tai and Agumon turned at the same time, froze in their running motions, and watched as a younger Tai rushed towards the three boys.

"Tai!" Kari cried, relief in her voice.

"Big Brother Tai," the first boy snarled. "What are you doing here? Come to kill someone else?"

Little Tai froze, his eyes wide. Agumon looked up at his partner and took into account how pale he was. He asked him what the other boys were talking about.

"About a year before this happened, Kari was sick," he explained in a numb tone of voice. "I took her outside to play, and she nearly died of pneumonia. The kids in Kari's class heard what was wrong with her, and there were a few who blamed me. Kari's very popular. These three loved to rub it in that I'd nearly killed my sister, even though she never blamed me."

Agumon nodded, he understood what it felt like to nearly get someone killed. The blame and guilt would sit in your stomach until it exploded.

"Take it back!" Little Tai ordered coldly.

"No!" the boys laughed. "You're so messed up that no matter what you do, you get people hurt. What are you going to do to us? Knock us out with those tiny fists? Call for mama? Oh, that's right, mama can't stand you either."

The boys laughed harder, and Agumon paid close attention to Kari and Little Tai. Kari was crying silently, but Little Tai was white with anger. He was glaring at the three boys, and they just laughed harder until they were holding each other up.

Then a tree fell on them.

Agumon couldn't help the cry of shock that escaped him, but as his partner didn't move he just continued to watch. Little Tai no longer looked angry. He just looked afraid now. He ran forward until he was at his sister's side, but she flinched away from him. The hurt that Little Tai had on his face made Agumon's heart break. This was a memory, and a painful one if the emotions that Agumon was feeling were any indication.

"Kari," Little Tai whimpered. "Please don't hate me. I didn't mean to do that. I don't know how it happened."

Kari threw her arms around her brother's waist and cried. Little Tai was crying too, but when they heard moans from the tree the two siblings screamed for help. The scene faded so that all that could be seen was Little Tai holding his sister. The tree and the park had disappeared.

"Why am I so messed up Kari?" Little Tai asked in a depressed tone. "Why can't I do anything right?"

"You do do stuff right." Kari told him. "You're the best big brother in the world!"

"You nearly died because of me."

"No, I nearly died because I didn't listen to mum and dad. You saved me. When I was lying in the hospital, I felt you nearby. There was a rush of warmth from you that made me strong again, but when I opened my eyes you were gone. The doctors said that it was a miracle, but I know that it was you. You're always protecting me, and I feel safe when I'm with you."

"I just, I hated them so much!" Little Tai started to cry.

"I don't like it when you hate, Tai." Kari told him as she hugged him tighter. "Don't be angry anymore. Please?"

"I don't know how."

Tai took a step back with Agumon as the scene completely faded. Agumon waited in silence, having learnt more about his partner in the last few minutes than the entire time they had been travelling together. Tai took a deep breath and screamed into the sky, all his fear and anger flowing away as he did so. The suddenness of the scream caused Agumon to flinch, but he didn't move away from his partner, his friend. Tai's scream faded.

"Do you feel better?" Agumon asked.

"Not really," Tai admitted with a sigh. "I know it's not normal to feel the way I do, but there are just some days where I really hate my life. Everything I touch goes bad, and I'm so afraid that the next time I feel angry that you're going to digivolve to Skullgreymon again. I don't want you to feel like that, but I don't know how to stop it."

"Have you tried talking to people about it?" Agumon asked. "Joe, Matt, and Sora are always trying to get you to talk to them, maybe if you rant at them, or at me, or to the sky like you did earlier, you won't feel so angry all the time?"

"Do you think that will work?" Tai asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice.

"I do," Agumon told him. "I've been afraid as well, but I know that if we work together through this, then we will both become stronger for it. You are my best friend Tai, and I don't want to lose you. Only once have I seen a digimon lose something important to them, and I never want to feel that."

"I will try," Tai promised. "We'll do this together, and we'll find a way to save this world and get home again."

Agumon nodded, smiling now as he could see the change in Tai. He was still afraid, but there was hope now. As long as they were together, they could do anything. They turned and started to run back to the boat, there was somewhere that they needed to be.

* * *

The digidestined screamed as yet another blast of fire enveloped them. Piximon's shield held strong, but not one child or digimon could figure out why Piximon didn't fight himself. They didn't know what he was waiting for.

And then they knew.

A second blast of fire, from an entirely different direction, knocked Tyrannomon off balance and revealed Greymon charging with a confidence they hadn't seen since File Island. Tai made his appearance behind them, but it was Sora who noticed him first. Her cry of delight drew everyone else's attention.

"You made it!" she cried.

"Yep!" Tai told her. He was smiling, and the way he held himself told the others that while he wasn't exactly the same, he was better than he had been. Joe made his way to Tai's side and placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Tai looked at him gratefully.

"Greymon's pulling the cables out!" TK cheered, drawing everyone's attention back to the fight. All the digimon started to cheer, and when Tyrannomon was pulled free of all cables he was deleted instantly. His corrupted data disappeared into the air to be reborn in the Primary Village, and Greymon de-digivolved to Agumon. Tai darted forward to his partner and lifted him into the air in a hug. His laughter and smile did a lot to reassure the others, but they also knew that they had a way to go still.

When Tai returned to the group, and his eyes darted over everyone in a head count, he asked the one question that the others hadn't yet verbalised.

"Where's Jade?"

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 13: Prisoners of Fate**_


	13. Prisoners of Fate

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_The digidestined and Jade have left File Island and have arrived on the continent of Server with Whamon's help. The only thing they need to do is gather the seven crests that are scattered throughout Server, and once they have the crests their digimon partners will be able to digivolve to the Ultimate level. The crest of Courage (Tai) has been found, as has the crest of Reliability (Joe). Tai's personality took a turn for the worst and now his positive relationship with Jade looks like it's gone forever. Greymon was forced to dark digivolve into SkullGreymon and Jade drained him of his power, forcing him to then de-digivolve into Koromon. Now Mimi has her crest of Sincerity, Matt and Izzy have their crests of Friendship and Knowledge, and Jade has regained her memories of her first adventure in the Digital World._

_With Etemon on their trail, they need to keep moving. They need to work together now more than ever, for true danger awaits on the horizon. __Will they have the strength to overcome it? The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 13: Prisoners of Fate

* * *

Jade woke in tears. She remembered, she remembered everything. Her Tom was out there somewhere, and he had been alone for so long. She remembered that he never liked the other digimon, and that the only one he was ever nice to was her. She was terrified now, and everything that Gennai had been telling her since her return finally made sense. Gennai was afraid of Tom, he always had been, but without Jade calming him down he had become even worse than Lucemon had ever been.

Because she hadn't remembered Tom, and how dangerous he could be, without her memories she would have been in danger if they ever came across him. But now that she remembered, she knew that she had to find him. If he knew that she was in the Digital World, it meant that he was either ignoring the Shadow World or jumping between the two looking for her. So every time she used her power enough for it to register he would start traveling to find her. The digidestined would be in danger if he caught up with them.

Jade got up off the bed she just realised she was resting on and hooked her tag and crest around her neck. She slipped it under her shirt so that it wouldn't be noticed unless she wanted it to be noticed. She then moved to the table and took the photo out of its frame and putting it in her bag. She wanted to keep it close to her, now more than ever. She needed to find these digimon, and talk again to Andromon now that she understood his actions that little bit more. He knew her, not as the Sovereign, but as Jade.

She left the small wooden house and started to walk back to the colosseum type building that Piximon claimed as his home. He had built it after she had been deleted, but she still knew all about it. She had been the one to design it, sort of. When she had gotten tired of playing in the trees she had drawn a picture of the type of house she thought Piximon should live in. Obviously, he had liked it and had it built, with a few changes as he attempted to decipher her childish scribbles.

The sound of a fight attracted her attention and she looked towards the outer barrier of Piximon's home. She could faintly see a Tyrannomon destroying the jungle, Greymon fighting him, and a hole in the barrier. She could use her power without transforming into Phoenixmon, even though it was more difficult, but at the moment transforming meant attracting Tom's attention, and the digidestined weren't ready for that. Her hands clasped together, her eyes closed, and she concentrated on the barrier, focusing on repairing it. Data particles formed and grew and before too long the barrier was whole again.

The last thing that Jade heard before it closed was Etemon's cry of denial and frustration. She smiled and sat down at the top of the staircase. She figured that the children and digimon would make it up to her in about an hour, which meant that she had time to mentally review what she now knew, and recover some of her energy. Piximon would know that she was awake because of her actions, but whether told the others or not was a mystery to her.

What she needed to decide now was whether or not she should stay with the digidestined, or go and find Tom. Was she ready to leave the digidestined? Were they ready for her to leave them? How would she find Tom? Should she wait until all the crests were gathered? And then there was thought of the eighth egg that she helped to protect. Currently there were seven digidestined, but there were supposed to eight. Why hadn't the eighth child arrived at the same time as the others? Why were there only seven digimon waiting? What had happened after Gennai carried the digi-eggs to safety?

"What am I missing?" she asked the silent sky. "What is the plan? Why are the dark digimon slowly taking over? Why hasn't Tom taken steps to control them?"

There was no answer, not that she expected there would be. For now, she decided, she would stay with the digidestined until they found all the crests. Once they had done that she would reassess her options and then more than likely rush off to find Tom.

"Jade!"

Jade turned her attention back to the staircase, surprised to realise that a lot of time had to have passed for the digidestined to reach the top. She grinned, however, and willingly allowed Joe to pull her into a hug. She was happy that Joe seemed more confident with himself, and she remembered how much of a basket case the boy had been at the beginning of their journey. Each of the children had grown as they travelled, and while some of them would probably still act a certain way, they had all matured.

As Matt and Izzy came closer to her, their tags started to glow as if calling out to her. If she could hear them talking, they would be saying something along the lines of: 'look, we've been found too!' As it was, she could hear what the crests were and how to unlock their power.

_The crest of Friendship – will shine when true bonds of friendship have been understood_

_The crest of Knowledge – will shine when wisdom and understanding become one_

"That was strange," Mimi stated as she looked at the two glowing tags to Jade's smiling face.

"What are they?" Izzy asked eagerly. He pulled his tag and crest from under his shirt into the open air so that everyone could look at it, and was quickly mimicked by Matt. Jade glanced at them, even though she didn't need to see them to know what they were. Matt's crest, the crest of Friendship, looked like a circle with a wavy line going through it. It had a soft appearance. Izzy's on the other hand, looked like a pair of lopsided glasses, with one lens slightly larger than the other.

"Matt's is the crest of Friendship," Jade explained. "And Izzy's is the crest of Knowledge."

"Izzy's makes sense," Matt said straight away. "But Friendship? That I don't understand."

"All crests will make sense when they glow for you," Jade hinted with a smile. "For you, when you understand exactly what friendship is your crest will shine for you. And Izzy, when you truly understand what is before you, then your crest will shine."

"I do understand," Izzy said, his head tilted to the side curiously. "What am I missing?"

"You will know when you find it."

"How are you feeling Jade?" Sora asked, drawing attention away from the crests.

"A lot better," Jade told her. "Let's eat and then we can find the next crest!"

Her eyes flickered up to Piximon and she nodded at him. He had done what was expected of him, and she was grateful, but now they needed to go. The fate of the world wouldn't wait for long, and she had something important to look forward to on the horizon.

* * *

While they were eating Piximon pulled Tai away from the group. Eyes followed them as they left, especially because Agumon had been told to stay behind, but Tai went willingly enough. They didn't go far, just far enough to be out of sight and hearing range. Piximon settled down on a rock, but Tai remained standing, staring out over the jungle and into the desert.

"What were you feeling, when Greymon digivolved?" Piximon eventually asked.

"What?" Tai asked in reply, honestly curious about the direction of the conversation.

"I'm not judging you, but I need to know," Piximon elaborated. "Think back."

Tai did as he asked, thinking about the colosseum. He thought about the cage, Etemon's boasting, Jade's screaming, and the moment Greymon dark digivolved. He thought about the emotions he had been feeling, and as he thought he spoke each emotion out loud.

"Helplessness…anger…fear…horror…inadequate," the last word was whispered but Piximon was still able to hear it. "I turned my friend into a monster who couldn't stop himself before Jade drained him of his energy."

"Fear and anger can make us do horrible things," Piximon told him seriously. "But it wasn't just fear and anger that felt, was it? Your helplessness from being trapped, your inadequacy from being unable to do anything…but these are emotions that can be overcome."

"What do you mean?" Tai asked, his eyes focused on the horizon. Piximon flew up and settled on the wall next to him.

"The power that comes from your anger and your fear, pales in comparison to something as terrible and destructive as the power of hatred. It is dark and cold, and it can do unspeakable things when allowed to burn. You hate Etemon, and it was that hatred that allowed the dark digivolution to occur."

"But-!"

"It makes sense, you don't need to justify yourself to me. I have been watching you since your arrival on Server, and Gennai has told me about your adventures on File Island. You hate Etemon, as you hated Devimon, for trying to kill you and your friends for the sole reason that you are the digidestined, a role that you were thrown into without anyone asking you first."

"I don't care about myself!" Tai told him, his voice rising in volume slightly. "But the others haven't done anything to deserve the pain and fear that we've faced every day since we arrived."

"And you think that you deserve having someone hunt you down to kill you?" Piximon asked without judgement. "You think that what's happening to you is fair?"

"I'm a screw up," Tai told him with conviction. "Nothing I do is good enough for anyone. I get people around me hurt."

"You protect people around you," Piximon added to his list. "What were you thinking when you were yelling at Etemon?"

"That if I could distract him long enough, the others could escape. If he was focused on me, he wouldn't be attacking them."

"Do you hate him?"

"More than I hated Devimon," Tai muttered. His eyes filled with tears but he didn't let them fall. "I hate him. We haven't done anything against him, but from the moment we arrived he's been trying to squash us. What did we do to him? Why us?!"

By the end he was screaming out across the jungle. Piximon let him scream out his frustrations and rage, before bringing his focus back to him. It was really important that he pass on what wisdom he had, otherwise the digidestined would be destroyed before they had a chance to live.

"It is a very rare thing for anyone to go through life without hating someone or something," he whispered, his calm voice penetrating Tai's mind. "However, it is not healthy to hold onto that hate. Hatred is a poison, it will slowly kill you until there is nothing left of you, just an empty husk or a shell of who you used to be."

"What do I do?" Tai asked miserably.

"Release it," Piximon breathed hypnotically. "Feel the emotion, acknowledge the emotion, and then let it go."

"It can't be that easy."

"It's not," Piximon assured him. "From the stories I've heard, your mother had the same problem."

"My mother?" Tai asked, turning away from the horizon finally. "What about my mother?"

But Piximon didn't say anything more. He just flew off to where the other children were and told Tai to come back when he was ready. Tai leant back against the stone wall and thought about what Piximon had told him. It was true that he usually bottled up his emotions, but surely that wasn't what caused him to go blind with rage? Maybe Agumon was right, maybe he should talk with someone about how he felt. Tai nodded to himself, when he could he would see if Joe wouldn't mind be ranted at. The older boy seemed fairly calm most of the time, and he was always watching the others like an older brother looking after younger siblings. It was almost hard to believe that Joe was the baby in his family.

With that thought in his mind Tai walked back to the group with his hands in his pockets. When they stopped for the night Tai would corner Joe, and maybe Matt and Sora as they usually harped on about him taking better care of himself, but he would do that later. For now, he would enjoy spending time with his friends.

* * *

"Thanks Piximon, we've learnt a lot from you," Matt acknowledged with a bow as they set out to leave.

"Yeah, we've learnt to scrub floors and starve half to death," Joe stated with a straight face. Jade giggled and hugged Gomamon closer to her chest. The little digimon would travel in her arms for a while before using up some energy by walking alone. Secretly, Gomamon just wanted to make sure that Jade was alright after her disappearance earlier. She felt different to all the digimon, and they were concerned about the change.

"Joe!" Mimi scolded before turning to Piximon apologetically. "That's just Joe's stomach talking."

"Far from over your training is," Piximon told them seriously, nodding at the apology, and staring at each of them as he continued. "Remember, life itself is a training session. Learn all you can."

"Right," Tai and Agumon agreed. Jade nodded as well before turning as the others started to walk down the stairs. Once they were out in the desert she would point out which way they needed to go, but until then she would pretend that they were playing in the forest. Actually, maybe she could convince TK to play with her as they journeyed. She sped up a little so that she was walking with the younger boy and as soon as they were off the stairs the two of them and the digimon were running through the trees, acting like children instead of the prophesised saviours of the Digital World.

* * *

That night, a few hours after they left Piximon's secret home, the children stopped and set up their little camp. Tai pulled Joe away from the group to have a talk with, the digimon created a little camp fire with TK and Jade, and they told stories for as long as possible. Mimi and Matt joined them before too long, but Izzy and Sora sat a little way away from the group. Sora was watching Joe and Tai, curious, but seeing as it was a serious conversation she stayed away.

That night the digimon and children were telling horror stories to each other. With her memories back in her head, Jade remembered a nightmare that she had had the first few weeks in the Digital World. She decided that tonight she would talk about it, but pretend that it wasn't her nightmare. She also added a few details in to make it scarier.

"A long time ago there was a small family who lived in a little town," she began. "There was a daddy, and a mummy and a baby. They were happy and safe. Then one day everything changed. A man had come to their town looking for them. They had something that he wanted and he wasn't going to go away until he got it. He walked up to their front door wearing a thick black cloak with a hood to hide his face. He didn't knock, he just kicked the door down loudly.

"The daddy told the mummy to take the baby and run away, but the mummy didn't want to leave the daddy. She went upstairs with the baby to hide, the sounds of a fight echoing from downstairs. Then the fight stopped. The mummy froze with the baby against her chest, her eyes went really wide. She put the baby in the crib and turned to face the door. Footsteps echoed on the steps, slow and steady, and the mummy knew that the daddy was gone.

"Then the door exploded in and the mummy screamed. The cloaked man laughed, and it was cold and creepy. The mummy ordered him to leave, but he didn't. He yelled at her, and the room filled with a green light. The mummy was gone, and the baby was alone. The man laughed, and the baby could see him finally. His eyes were red and his face was white, but he was evil. He laughed again, and the room filled with a green light again. The baby screamed back, and the man's laughter changed to a scream of fright.

"When the light faded, all that was left of the house was a black hole. For years afterwards people would walk passed the house and sigh sadly. They knew that evil had come to their town, and that the evil had never left. The man still haunts the crater, and late at night the town can hear his laughter and the cry of the baby."

"That's a scary story Jade," TK told her with a shiver. He pulled the blanket that he and Jade were sharing closer to his body. "What happened to the baby?"

"Never seen again," Jade whispered. "It's your turn Tentomon. Do you have a scary story?"

"I think that one is going to give us all nightmares," Tentomon told her. "Does anyone mind if I tell a not-scary story?"

There were headshakes all around, so Tentomon launched into a story about the time that he and Izzy discovered a maze. A lot of the story was made up, but it did serve to dull the fears that Jade's story had created. Matt and Mimi looked at each other in concern while Tentomon spoke, and Matt vowed to talk to Jade about it at a later date.

During Tentomon's story Jade fell asleep, and while her dreams were filled with cold laughter and green light, when the sun rose the next morning she was running up the front of the group with laughter trailing behind her.

Tai walked side by side with Joe, and that was mainly at Joe's insistence as he was worried about him. They had talked for hours the night before, and when they returned to the group the only ones still awake were Sora and Matt. The four of them sat together, but neither Joe nor Tai spoke of what they had spent hours discussing. That, more than anything, had given Joe Tai's undying trust and respect.

"How are you feeling today?" Joe asked in a whisper.

"Better than I thought I'd be," Tai whispered back. "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime you want to talk, I will listen Tai," Joe promised. "I'm glad you came to me."

Tai flushed slightly, embarrassed at having needed to talk. But he couldn't deny the benefits. He felt better than he had since before arriving in the Digital World, and aside from the mild nightmare he'd had during the night, he felt more at ease and ready to face whatever was ahead of them. There was only one thing that he knew would make him feel immortal, not that that was a good thing. He wanted Jade's trust, and he knew that he would be spending the rest of his life attempting to make it up to her.

Thinking of Jade, Tai's eyes lifted so that he was staring towards the front of the group. Jade was alone, but that didn't mean that she was bored. It looked like she was dancing, the way that she was flying over the ground with every jump and step, until she suddenly stopped and stared off to the right.

"What do you see Jade?" Matt called out to her, having noticed her abrupt halt. Jade didn't verbally answer, she just pointed up the side of a hill to where there were a bunch of black cables coming together. The black cables meant that it belonged to Etemon, but as to what it was…they had no idea. Izzy rushed off to have a look, his expertise with technology coming in handy now. The others followed behind him so that they were all surrounding the…thing.

"What is it Izzy?" Tai asked after a few minutes of Izzy playing with the cables. "Is it some kind of power generator?"

"Even better," Izzy told him without looking up from what he was doing. "Etemon has hardwired the entire desert, creating an extensive computer network. My guess, this is one of his remote data access terminals."

"Great, let's crash it," Tai suggested whilst rubbing his hands together in expectation.

"It could be a booby trap," Sora cautioned, though Jade knew that she wanted to destroy it too.

"If it is Etemon's, I say we cross the wires and mess it up good," Matt voiced, agreeing with Tai.

Izzy pulled out a wire from one of the sockets and attached it to his computer. Jade leant over his shoulder and watched, curious about what he hoped to achieve.

"What are you going to do with that?" Tentomon asked, referring to the cable. Izzy answered him in a mumble, thinking out loud but not caring if anyone was listening to his explanation.

"I wonder…it's entirely possible that our computers have compatible systems. And if they do I can tap into Etemon's network."

"Cool," Jade said simply. TK appeared at her side, also curious about what Izzy was doing, but his attention was on the top left corner of the screen. He pointed it out to Izzy.

"Hey, you have mail."

"Oh, that was quick," Izzy observed in surprise. "Who even knows I've logged on?"

"Oh no, it's Etemon," Joe cried pessimistically. Jade giggled softly and Joe sighed at her. He clearly wanted the others to take the situation a little more seriously, and at least consider the danger that they could be in.

"Open it, it's probably just spam," Tai ordered, moving to stand behind Jade and TK so that he could watch. Jade slid to the side and stood just in front of Joe. Tai looked hurt, but Jade didn't look at him.

"Right," Izzy agreed, not seeing the change in positions behind him, and opened the email. At once a small metallic voice echoed from Izzy's speakers, and they all listened with a range of emotions from curiosity, to alarm, to consideration.

"Help me. S.O.S. Mayday! I'm being held prisoner. Help me escape and I'll guide you to the crest you seek."

"Do you think he's for real?" Sora asked. "I mean, who could it be?"

"Let's find out," Matt suggested. "Where do we need to go?"

"You want to go after the strange being who is calling for help?" Joe asked in alarm. "It could be Etemon attempting to lure us into a trap where he will then separate us and harvest our bodies to be used in his experiments. He's tempting us with a crest because he knows that's what we're looking for and he knows that we'll go for straight away. We don't need help finding the crests!"

"Calm down Joe," Sora ordered. "I agree that it could be a trap, but what if it's not? Someone could really be in trouble. We should help them."

Joe gapped at her, but the others all seemed to want to go after this strange little digimon who was luring them onwards. Jade took his hand sympathetically, and led him after the group so that he wouldn't be left behind. He was silent for only a short amount of time…and then he started to panic.

"Oh, I don't like this. I don't like it one little bit. I don't like the look of it, I don't like the smell of it, I don't like –"

"Don't have a brain cramp Joe," Mimi told him with a tinge of worry in her voice. "You're turning green around the edges."

"Yeah, someone asked for our help," Tai reminded him, also concerned. "We gotta at least check it out, right?"

"I still don't like this," Joe moaned.

"According to my laptop, we should be getting close," Izzy informed them. He was in the lead because he had the directions on his laptop, but they were still going in the same direction that Jade had been leading them in before the found the data terminal. They were now in between rocky cliffs, and the high walls provided some shade from the sun.

TK's tag suddenly started to glow. He and Sora had pulled out their tags in the hope that one of them would lead them to the digimon who needed to be rescued. TK gave a shout of delight and held up the tag to see which way they would need to go. His head darted every which way, and Jade smiled as she watched him. She alone saw Tokomon dart off to the side, but upon his quick return he drew the others' attention to him.

"TK! Come over here. Look what I found."

"Look! Another crest!" Sora stated needlessly, staring at the rock wall. The eight humans and seven digimon ran closer to the wall, and Jade stared up at what could have been a child's drawing of someone in a dress with spiky hair. No arms, no legs, no face…except for the fact that it had a head, hair, and body. This was the yellow crest, and as soon as it started to shrink she knew what it was.

_The crest of Hope – will shine for those who have unshakable faith_

"Awesome, my own crest!" TK cried in delight.

"Congratulations," Tokomon told him.

"Now TK, don't think this means you get to stay up any later," Matt cautioned him, but he was smiling. TK skipped over to Jade and held up his new crest so that she could see it better.

"What is this one?" he asked in excitement.

"Hope," she told him. "Never lose faith."

"In what?"

"In everything," Jade whispered with a smile. "Never give up, or lose hope, and always believe that everything will work out in the end."

"Sora's crest is the only one left to find," Izzy interrupted, staring at TK's crest in contemplation before looking at the others. "Maybe if we rescue this guy he can lead us to it?"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tai asked as he punched his hand into the air. "To the rescue! Dah da da da, da-dah!"

"What's that?" Mimi asked, ignoring Tai's attempt at holding a tune. Everyone followed her line of sight and stared at the tunnel that had been revealed as soon as the crest of Hope had been removed from the wall. Izzy was the first to walk in, having seen what the others hadn't noticed immediately. His eyes lit up with excitement as he stared at a bunch of runes of the walls and roof. Jade skipped in after him, staring at the walls curiously. She recognised the digi-code, but what was written was an ancient form of what Lucemon had taught her. While the digi-code that was written before her was accurate in its representation, what she had been taught was the data-stream.

Everything in the Digital World, whether it is organic, material or animal, had their own specific data-stream. It was this data-stream that allowed Jade to harness certain energies to create digi-eggs (like she had done with Angemon), or permanently delete a digimon (like she had done with Devimon). This written form stumped her, as she much preferred being able to access the information she wanted via touch. Having the information immediately downloaded into her mind, she found, was much more efficient and left little to no room for error in the translation. She compared it to having someone talk to her about a topic, or reading it. She could hear it, Izzy could see it.

Izzy erased a rune from the wall and light flooded the cave they were in. Jade nodded slowly, and marvelled at Izzy's brain. This was an archaic language, one that only the oldest digimon could be bothered to read now, and Izzy had figured it all out in the short amount of time they had been in the Digital World.

"This is amazing," Izzy exclaimed. "Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"I have a feeling that you're going to tell us," Mimi quipped instantly.

"You see, it's quite possible these hieroglyphs are not a form of writing at all, but rather code," Izzy started to explain. Jade paid close attention. "Computer code…if you change a piece of the code, you change the programming."

Izzy erased another rune and this time a holographic map formed a short distance further into the tunnel cave. Jade was impressed, and she walked a little closer to the hologram to understand what Izzy was hypothesizing.

"Like that, for example," Izzy stated as everyone gasped.

"Wait, back up," Joe requested. "Are you telling us that this whole place is like one giant computer game? That none of it is really real?"

"Oh, it's real alright," Izzy warned him. "You know, I'm thinking that everything we see and everybody we meet in this place, are actually pieces of data or programing given physical form."

"Now wait a second," Matt jumped in. "If you're right and this thing is just one big computer, then how did we get here? Did we squeeze in through the floppy drive?"

Jade giggled as the image materialised in her brain.

"No," Izzy said with a soft laugh. "We're just kilobytes of data too, I mean, the versions of us that are in here."

"If I'm just data, why do I still feel like I'm flesh and blood?" Tai asked.

"And I still need to go to the little girls' room," Mimi added.

"You don't really," Izzy told her. "You just think you have to."

"Oh, well, I hope you're right because –"

"Where's the real us?" Matt interrupted. "Where are our flesh and blood bodies?"

"I don't know," Izzy told him unconcerned. "I suppose we're back at the campground still. Yeah, we're alive back there. We exist simultaneously with our other selves. We're in a parallel digital universe like the digimon."

"Does that mean I don't have to worry about brushing my teeth anymore?" TK asked curiously, his question quite serious. Izzy, alone, took TK's question seriously.

"We've got bigger things to worry about now TK."

"Although, do us all a favour and don't stop brushing," Matt corrected, sending a sharp look at Izzy to back him up. Izzy understood with a sheepish nod.

"Yeah, please," Izzy he said before focusing entirely on his computer. Jade made herself comfortable on the ground and leant back on her arms so that she could stare at the map of the Digital World. Behind her Izzy started to mumble to himself, pushing different buttons on his keyboard and thinking out loud.

"O oh, he's in computer dork mode, this could take a while," Mimi recognised, though her tone had TK and Jade giggling. TK sat next to Jade and they watched as the map shrunk and morphed into another map, but this one was spherical and looked like a planet. The others gasped at the display of advanced electronics, but Jade just focused on the point that Izzy was trying to make.

"I've called up a holographic map of the Digital World, you can see how physically similar it is to the planet Earth. In fact, there are a lot of parallels with our world."

"That's terrific, Izzy," Matt indicated. "Great time for a geography lesson."

"Pay attention and you might learn something," Izzy told him, his tone scolding even if he never took his eyes away from the display. "If I enter the email address of the person who contacted us, I can find his location in the Digital World here. Now, look, that email address is from a web domain in our world, I've logged onto it a thousand times."

"Is there a point to this somewhere?" Tai asked.

"Is the person who sent it in our world or the Digital World?" Sora added, and both ignored Tai's question.

"That's just the thing, he's in both," Izzy answered. He brought up another world map, but this one was of Earth. He removed all land masses and left behind a bunch of white lines. This was important, and Jade sat up straighter. "Here, the Digital World is on the left, and the wold we know is on the right…and if I overlay them like so…"

"The white lines match up perfectly," Sora realised. "What does it mean?"

"That's the world's digital network," Izzy told her, excitement leaking through as he finally got to explain the theory he had been working towards since File Island. "Through those lines every computer on Earth is connected to every other computer. The Digital World is the physical embodiment of the data passing through them. Guys, we're seeing something that no one else has ever seen, that no one even knows about. The digital shadow world that lives alongside our own, and they're not just parallel, they're physically linked, so anything we do here will have effects on the other."

"For real?" Matt asked in shock.

"Intense, "Joe breathed.

"Yeah, and here's the coolest part. Wherever this person is in the Digital World, I think I can take us there just by entering his email address and clicking on it, like accessing a web page."

"Hey, all this techno talk is making my head spiny," TK complained. Matt came over to him and knelt down so that he was staring at the two on the ground.

"Computer guys can never just do something TK, that'd be too easy," he explained as if revealing a well-kept secret. "They gotta spend all day telling you _how_ they're going to do it."

Conversations started up around the group, but Jade didn't listen to any of them. Izzy was really smart for his age, but the one bit of knowledge he didn't have was that the seven children before her were not the first humans who had ever entered the Digital World. She wasn't even the first human to enter, that right lay with the five original digidestined. She wondered if she should tell the resident genius, but decided against it because he seemed happy with the conclusions he'd drawn. Admittedly, she didn't know everything about the existence of the Digital World, only that it wasn't the only world that existed in parallel with Earth.

"Bingo!" Izzy announced with delight as he hit the last few commands into his computer.

"I hate bingo," Mimi told him. "It's so confusing with all those different letters and numbers. Hey, look, a door."

Mimi was right. Where the map had originally been was now a doorway to another part of the Digital World. Jade darted forward before anyone could tell her not to, and stared at the desert that stretched out before her. She knew, even if it looked the same, that they were in another part of the desert that was a fair distance from where they entered the tunnel cave.

"Our electronic pen pal is right out there," Izzy explained as she ran off.

"Or it could be a trap!" Sora stated with alarm as she ran off after Jade.

"No way," Izzy refuted as he followed her. He was clearly trying to be reassuring. "We're just kilobytes of data so I uploaded us as bits of file attachment –"

"Ok, ok, I believe you," Sora told him a calmer tone as she stood beside Jade looking out across the desert. Tai walked passed them and out into the desert, before informing everyone that they were standing in the mouth of a sphinx. His declaration had everyone moving forward just so they could see the sphinx as well. Jade looked to the left of the sphinx's mouth and gaped as she saw a structure that defied gravity.

An upside-down pyramid.

"Whoa, check this out," Tai breathed as he too spotted the pyramid. He pulled out his mini-telescope and focused it on the movement at the base-tip of the pyramid. "Heads up, Etemon at nine o'clock."

"I think I left the water running back at the sphinx," Joe stated calmly before walking back into the tunnel and not stopping until he was outside in the canyon again. Jade skipped to his side and sat next to him with a cheerful grin. He looked at her with a sigh, but she knew that he was grateful that she was with him and not out within Etemon's reach. He started to pull food out of his bag that the others could grab as they returned.

"So our prisoner is being kept in Etemon's lair," Matt stated as he dropped down opposite Jade and Joe. He grabbed the nearest bit of food without looking at what it was.

"Where's Sora's crest Jade?" TK asked as he sat next to his brother. "Is it nearby?"

"It's inside the pyramid," Jade told him with a frown. "Someone must have found it and brought it there. Maybe Etemon found it on his travels and brought it back, and that's why he wants you guys. Maybe he thinks that the crests will give him more power to take over the entirety of the Digital World."

"So we have to go into the pyramid regardless of whether or not we're going to try to rescue this 'mon," Tai summarised.

"You don't want to rescue him?" Sora asked in surprise. "You sounded pretty determined earlier."

"That was before I realised we were walking straight into Etemon's Headquarters," Tai defended himself. "I think it's a majorly bad idea."

"But we need to find Sora's crest," Izzy told him.

"Are we sure that Sora's is in there?" Joe asked, a tad hopefully. "There are still three that need to be found, right Jade?"

"Two," Jade corrected, shaking her head slightly. "But I'm pretty sure that Sora's is in the pyramid. The other one feels different and it's a really pale pink. The one in the pyramid is red and it's reaching out for something close by."

"What happened to the third?" Mimi asked curiously, sitting down delicately.

"I have it," Jade said, pulling out her crest with a brilliant smile. "Piximon gave it to me. He said that it was mine the last time I was here, before I left. Gennai gave it to him to keep safe."

"Do you remember the last time you were here?" TK asked excitedly.

"Bits and pieces," Jade told him. "I remember the Dark Masters, well, only Piedmon. He was the leader, I think, and he was the one who deleted me."

"He killed you?" TK asked with wide eyes.

"Yep," Jade said with a nod. "It hurt a lot, which is why I lost my memory."

"Is he the digimon that Gennai was afraid of?" Matt asked.

"No," Jade said, tilting her head slightly. "He's afraid of another, one who could easily level the Digital World if we're not careful. I'll go looking for him later."

"Alone?" Joe clarified in alarm. "I don't think so. If Gennai's so afraid of him it's for a very good reason."

"I died in his arms," Jade told him with a frown. "From all accounts he didn't take it well."

"By Azulongmon's whiskers!" Agumon suddenly realised. "He was the one I saw when I hatched."

"Who did you see Agumon?" Gabumon asked curiously. "I don't recall seeing anything like what they're describing."

"That's because it happened before you guys hatched," Agumon elaborated. "I've never heard a digimon scream like that before. I felt like crying because he clearly wasn't. He disappeared and never returned to File Island."

The digimon were silent as they worked through what Agumon was telling them, and Jade slid over so that she could hug the little dinosaur. She could only image what sounds the baby Agumon had heard, and it chilled her to her bones as she tried to image that being the first thing she heard after being born.

"We still need to go into the pyramid," Matt said after a minute or two of silence.

"I have a really bad feeling about it," Tai told him again. "Like, someone's going to get seriously hurt, bad feeling. I don't think we should all go in."

"That I'll agree to," Matt told him. "I think that TK, Jade and Mimi should stay here."

"If you think that's best, I agree too," Mimi told him.

"Great, so, I'm going because it's my crest, Izzy's coming for his computer," Sora started to list.

"I'm going to make sure you don't kill yourselves," Joe added.

"I'm going because I'm going to be unbearable if I have to stay behind," Tai added. The others looked at him sternly, before conceding that he was right. He would drive all who stayed behind absolutely nuts. Matt nodded.

"I'll stay behind," he said. "An extra pair of eyes back here will ensure that you have back up if you need it."

"You just don't want to leave me on my own," TK wisely stated.

"And too many people going is like asking for someone to spot you," Jade added in the same tone.

"…That too," Matt agreed, turning back to the others. "We should get some rest if we're going to storm Etemon's HQ in the morning."

There was agreement all round, but Jade kept her eyes on Tai. He was determined to go, but she didn't think that it was for the reason he had given everyone. He was scared that something would happen to them if he didn't go with them. Jade sighed, it seemed that Tai was still determined to protect everyone from everything…even at the cost of his own mental health and well-being.

"Keep an eye on him tomorrow," she whispered to Joe as she moved passed him to get some rest. She and TK would sleep surrounded by the digimon, as they did every night. They still weren't allowed to keep watch as they were too young. "Something's up."

"I agree," Joe told her. "I've got him. Go get some rest."

Jade nodded and went to sit down surrounded by the digimon. She agreed with Tai, even if she didn't say it aloud. Something was bound to go wrong…she just hoped that they'd all live to talk about it later.

* * *

The following morning the group of four humans and four digimon snuck over to the pyramid. Tai took the lead with Agumon, but he moved slowly enough that everyone could keep up and he kept to the shadow of the sand dunes to ensure that the patrolling Gazimon didn't spot them. He hadn't slept well the night before at all, not even tiring himself out on first watch helped. He had given up some time before dawn and sat against the wall of the cave, watching as everyone slept. He knew, without a single doubt in his mind, that something was going to go wrong. He didn't know what, or when, but he knew that by the time they returned from the pyramid everything would be different.

"There's a hidden back door to the pyramid that we can use to get in," Izzy whispered as they arrived at the last dune before the pyramid. "It should be somewhere right up ahead."

Tai nodded and made a break for the edge of the pyramid. He had to admit, it was a little nerve wracking to walk up to a pyramid that was upside down. The largest part of the pyramid was now above them and looked like it was about to fall on them. Still, Tai ignored it and once he reached the wall he pressed against it and waited for Izzy to point out the next step.

"That's funny," Izzy muttered as he stared at a certain part of the wall. "It should be right here."

Tai looked at him in disbelief but before he could speak another voice registered in his mind. He turned slightly so that he could look around the edge of the pyramid before straightening and hiding back behind the wall. He could feel the hate in him growing, but he forced it away by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Joe came over to him, seeing his difficulty.

"Tai, what is it?" he asked quietly.

"Etemon," Tai growled in reply. Joe gasped and grabbed a hold of Tai's arm, dragging him back to where Izzy was still staring at the wall in confusion. Tai was grateful for his touch, the hate that was rushing through his veins at the moment made him more likely to rush up to the orange monkey and punch him as opposed to run and protect his friends.

"Izzy, it's time to go," Joe hissed at him. "Etemon's just around the corner."

Sora stared at Joe in confusion, noticing the restraining hand that he had on Tai's arm. Then she looked at Tai's face and understood that Joe was grounding Tai so that he wouldn't do anything stupid. She grabbed Tai's free hand without saying anything, but the gratitude in Tai's eyes when he looked at her meant more than words could express. Izzy, having ignored the trouble behind him, reached forward to place his hands on the wall, only to have his hand go right through it.

His exclamation of surprise was just loud enough to attract Etemon's attention, so the small group darted inside moments before they would have otherwise been spotted. Now in relative safety, Tai released a breath that was meant to rid all tension from his body.

"Well done Tai," Joe praised quietly. "Well done."

"What was that about?" Sora asked him curiously.

"Piximon told me that it was my hate that made Agumon dark digivolve," Tai explained as he leant back against the wall. He was still holding Sora's hand, and Joe's hand was still wrapped around his upper arm. "I don't want to cause any more damage, so I need to control my emotions. Seeing Etemon brought all that hate back, and it was harder than I thought to push it away."

"But you did," Joe told him positively. "You accepted our help and because of that you were able to control your hatred."

"Thanks Joe," Tai muttered.

"We're all here for you Tai," Sora added.

Izzy shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the talk of emotions. The digimon sat quietly, watching but not interrupting, but Agumon couldn't keep the pride off his face as he looked at his partner. He had known the moment Tai saw Etemon, for he could sense the darkness in his partner growing. And while it was still there, being in physical contact with Joe and Sora had made the darkness retreat so that it wasn't as powerful as before. It was something to keep in mind for later.

"Well now that we're in, what do we do?" Joe asked, breaking away from talk of Tai's personal battle with his own demons.

"I guess next we find a way through these walls," Izzy replied immediately, latching onto the new topic. "The trick is –"

"Hey, I found one!" Agumon interrupted as he smashed his hand into the nearest wall. He whimpered as the pain registered, and Tai appeared at his side to see the injury.

"As I was saying Agumon," Izzy told him with a hint of irritation at being interrupted. "The trick is finding the weak points. Let's use heads, not hands."

Agumon nodded glumly but followed the group down the passageway deeper into the pyramid. As they walked, Tai kept a tight grip on Sora's hand. Sora, surprisingly, didn't mind at all and would often stare at their linked hands with a faint blush to her cheeks. No one seemed to notice her preoccupation, but Biyomon did look at her in confusion. Joe, on the other hand, was mentally chanting 'no one spot us, no one spot us' and wringing his hands nervously. The passageway they were walking down had no corridors, so if anyone was coming from up ahead they would be caught instantly. Izzy walked at the front of the group with Tentomon, neither speaking, both just watching.

As they walked down a flight of stairs they noticed something that was different. A small section of the wall on the right hand side was see-through, much like how the exit had appeared see-through once they were inside the pyramid.

"It's another breech in the system's security," Izzy mumbled, staring at the wall with undisguised interest. Agumon walked forward so that he was the closest to the not-wall and gasped.

"Look, Gazimon!" he alerted the others in a hushed tone. They all held their breath as the two approaching Gazimon came closer to the not-wall, passed it without spotting them, and continued on their way.

"Does that mean that this wall looks like a normal wall from the other side?" Tai asked in a whisper.

"Must be," Izzy told him. "Otherwise we would have been spotted."

"Do we need to go through it, or go further along this passageway?" Joe asked. Izzy looked at his computer screen before pointing to the passageway they were still on. They continued to walk without talking, though there was a little bit more confidence as it appeared they were in a part of the pyramid that no one else could see. They should be completely safe until they hopped into a new passageway…theoretically.

At the end of the passageway they came to another not-wall, and only after hesitating a brief moment did the group walk through it. They were in another room, but while on three sides was normal brick that they had seen everywhere else, the fourth side held an electrical fence. As they stared at it, a very visible electrical current would run over the metal wires menacingly.

"This looks nasty," Tentomon observed, flying a little closer to the fence. "We don't have to go through here do we?"

"This firewall is the system's last line of defence," Izzy explained. "There appears to be only one safe way through it."

"And if we pick the wrong way we'll need to be scooped up with a spatula," Joe lamented.

"You're not scared are you Joe?" Gomamon asked cheekily.

"Maybe I am a little!" Joe snapped back. Izzy walked to the left of the group before pointing at the wire fence.

"The weak point should be here," he stated.

"Cool," Tai told him. And he walked through without blinking. At the last moment Sora had pulled her hand free of his grip, and she stared at the fence in alarm. Joe and Izzy also exchanged glances, but before they could say anything about Tai's apparent disregard for his own life his head popped back in and he stared at them in confusion.

"Are you coming in? Or are you just going to stand there all day?"

With Tai apparently unharmed they followed him through, though Sora couldn't help herself and she gently hit Tai over the back of his head. He yelped at the contact and spun to face her with a question on his lips.

"Do you have no care for your own life?" she asked him before he could utter another sound.

"Izzy said that it was safe, and he hasn't been wrong about this place yet," Tai defended. "He said that that point was the weakest, and I believed him."

"What if he was wrong?" Sora asked him, a little louder this time.

"Could you yell a little quieter?" Joe asked pleadingly as he looked around.

"Are you saying that you don't trust Izzy?" Tai asked her back. "We're here because Izzy received an email asking us for help, and because your crest is here for us to find. So far Izzy hasn't led us astray, and I don't believe that he will. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Why don't you pass notes?" Joe suggested under his breath. "It's not like we're in the middle of an evil digimon's headquarters or anything, an evil digimon who has tried to kill us every time we have stumbled across each other."

"You could die!" Sora hissed in Tai's face. "You may not care about your life, but we care about it! We need you Tai, and if we're ever going to get home it will be together!"

Tai stared at Sora carefully, taking in her red face and the hint of tears in her eyes. He hadn't really been thinking about the consequences of Izzy being wrong, and the idea of being in a computer had set his mind at ease a little. If he died, he assumed that he would wake up back at camp again, because that's what happened to Jade when she was last in the Digital World. She had died, but she was back and perfectly healthy…all things considered.

But now he thought: what if, because of the differences between them and Jade, death meant something different? Jade was, technically, human, but she had the ability to become a digimon. Was that what made it possible for her to wake up, alive, in the Real World? Would that then mean that if they died they would be erased and never seen again? All of a sudden Tai didn't feel very confident with his chances of returning home.

"I will be more careful," he eventually promised. Sora nodded and crossed her arms defensively. Joe cleared his throat, drawing attention back to him and Izzy, before gesturing to Izzy to start explaining where they were. Now that they were looking, Tai and Sora noticed that they had walked into a room that was far more technologically advanced than any other part of the pyramid they had seen. There were no bricks, and the walls were made of metal.

"This is the host's computer," Izzy explained. "This is where the cry for help came from."

"Is that him?" Sora asked, pointing to the centre of the room. Directly ahead of them was a small digimon that looked like a robot. It was inside a clear pyramid that was right side up, with another, larger, pyramid on top of that but upside down. It looked like an elaborate cage.

"I've heard of him," Tentomon spoke up. "That's Datamon, a super intelligent robotic digimon. He disappeared without a trace some time ago. Nobody ever knew what happened to him."

"I guess we now know," Tai muttered.

"_Now that you've finished bickering we can get on with it!_"

Everyone turned to look at Izzy's computer where a small version of Datamon had appeared, and his voice echoed out from the speakers.

"He's communicating with us through the infrared port on my laptop," Izzy realised.

"_Today is your lucky day, and mine_," Datamon continued. "_But we haven't much time. Long, long ago, I fought Etemon…and lost, one of my rare miscalculations. Anyway, I was severely damaged and Etemon imprisoned me here, forcing me to act as his Web Master, administering his Network. Without Etemon knowing, however, I was able to slowly repair myself, restoring my capabilities bit by bit over the years. And then, eventually, I gained control over Etemon's Network. Not total control, but enough to bring some misery to that bumbling baboon. At last, I am ready to free myself, but I need your help to break the cyber lock._"

"What about my crest?" Sora asked suspiciously. "You said in your message that you could lead us to it. And we know that it's here in the pyramid."

"_Whatever you want,_" Datamon promised. "_Just, please, help me out of here._"

Tai was suspicious. There was something more at work here than just freeing the robot digimon. But, he was also an enemy of Etemon, and anything that worked against him was fine in Tai's book. The saying: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' came to him and he thought that it fit the situation.

"Can we trust this talking can opener?" Joe asked, his thoughts echoing Tai's.

"_Etemon is your enemy as well as mine,_" Datamon told them. Tai's frown deepened. "_That makes us allies. Please, you're my only hope._"

"I really hope we don't regret this," Tai muttered before raising his voice. "What do you need from us?"

"_I'm transmitting instructions to disengage the cyber lock,_" Datamon told them, and as soon as Izzy received them he ran over to the wall controls and started to fiddle with them. Tai followed him, but left Joe and Sora standing with their digimon. He followed the instructions that Izzy called out to him, but before he was able to fulfil the last one, Etemon walked through the door.

"Hold it!" the orange digimon ordered. Tai froze, the hate in his veins growing. The darkness whispered to him, telling him to give into his hate as it would make him powerful. If he gave into his hate, he could kill Etemon and then none of his friends would have to die. His hands tightened on the lever that he was holding, his knuckles turning white under his gloves.

"I've been watching you on the surveillance cameras," Etemon told them, annoyed. "You're an annoying little brat, you know that?"

Two Gazimon appeared from behind Etemon, and just before Tai's hate reached its peak he thought of Jade and Agumon, both of them staring up at him in fear. He never wanted them to fear him, but his emotions created that fear in them. Jade avoided him because of her fear, and while Agumon had forgiven him there were still moments when he caught the digimon watching him nervously, afraid of what he would do. Slowly, one hand released the lever and cupped his forehead. He didn't want to feel anymore.

"Tai?" Joe asked, concerned but quiet as he didn't want to draw too much attention to his friend. Tai opened his eyes and looked at Joe, and Joe was proud of how he didn't so much as flinch as he noticed the inky darkness of Tai's eyes. Sora gasped behind him, but thankfully Etemon's attention was on Datamon.

"All this time I thought it was these snot-nose kids causing my Network to go on the fritz, but it was you wasn't it, you digital dumpster?"

"Well, in a word, yes," Datamon told Etemon, no remorse in his voice at all.

"You rat!" Etemon cried, and then he turned to Tai and Izzy. Tai's eyes focused on Etemon moments before he charged, but thankfully his focus was interrupted. Joe had darted forward and wrapped one arm around Tai's chest, and used the other to cover his eyes. Tai struggled briefly, both hands coming off the lever to grip Joe's arm across his eyes.

"Digivolve! Help out!" Agumon ordered. All four digimon digivolved to the next level, and started to fight in order to protect their friends and partners. Only Agumon and Joe were aware of how close to losing it Tai was, but Agumon trusted his partner not to hurt him again, and that was why he digivolved.

"Calm down Tai," Joe ordered into his ear. "Breathe. You can beat this."

"It hurts Joe," Tai moaned, his grip tightening on Joe's arm. "It promises that you'll all be safe, and that no one would be able to stop me."

"But you will be alone," Joe added, wincing as Ikkakumon was thrown into a wall. "Remember what your hate did last time? If Jade hadn't interfered you would have lost Agumon, and then you would have lost us. Your hatred will do more damage to us than Devimon, Etemon, or any other dark digimon will."

Tai let his body go limp against Joe.

"Make it stop, please?" he pleaded.

Izzy used that moment to dart forward and grab the lever that Tai had let go of. He wrenched it up in order to free Datamon. The glass pyramid lifted and in that instant Datamon was free from the cage that had imprisoned him for years. Tai felt the change in the air and his body tightened as horror surged through his body.

"NO!" he cried and pushed Joe's arm free so that he could see.

"I'm free!" Datamon cried. He turned to Etemon. "Now let's see how you like it!"

The glass floated into the air, and then was flying towards Etemon, the Gazimon…and Birdramon. The force of the blast sent Birdramon crashing into the back wall and de-digivolving into Biyomon again. Sora cried out in alarm and ran over to her partner. All the while Datamon was laughing insanely.

"Hey! We set you free!" Tai screamed at him. Joe kept one hand on Tai's arm. One, to make sure that he was grounded, and two, to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid like try to attack Etemon with his bare hands.

"And I do appreciate it you twerps!" Datamon told him. Tai seethed in silence, but then tried to control it as Etemon spoke up from behind him. Their enemy was right behind them, but everything had gone out of control so quickly that Tai didn't know what to think anymore.

"Dumb kids, ha-ha, you'd think by now they'd learned to trust no one," Etemon stated with a laugh.

"Trust _me_," Datamon told Etemon. "This will hurt."

Datamon attacked Etemon with little red demonic bugs of some kind. Etemon used his _Dark Network Attack_ and when the two attacks met in mid-air there was an explosion. Tai and Joe flew backwards from the force of it, and as they flew Joe let go of Tai's arm. Tai hit the wall hard, and as he sank to the ground he cursed himself for trusting Datamon. Because of him, they were all in danger.

He passed out.

* * *

Back at the sphinx, Jade and Gabumon were watching the pyramid with worry. The others were a little further in, eating an early lunch and just talking about their adventures. Jade was talking to Gabumon, but it was more like a running commentary about what was happening in the pyramid. She had alerted him to the fact that something had gone wrong when all four digimon digivolved, and then when Birdramon was forced to de-digivolve.

And then the ground between them and the pyramid exploded unexpectedly.

"Matt! Come quick!" Gabumon cried back into the tunnel. Matt darted to his side and stared at the falling sand and smoke with worry.

"Well so much for no fighting," he muttered.

"Something went wrong!" Jade told him, her hands clutching his arm. "They're all in great danger! You have to go and get them!"

"Palmon, digivolve and go with Matt and Gabumon," Mimi told her friend. "I won't be much help, but they're going to need you to get them out."

"Alright Mimi," Palmon agreed.

"We'll wait here for your return," Mimi continued, looking at Matt. "Bring them home."

"I will," Matt promised. "Gabumon, Palmon, let's go. Stay here TK, Jade."

Jade watched him leave. She knew that something was wrong, but she also knew that the worst was yet to come. She didn't know how she knew, but the trials of the digidestined were far from over.

To be continued…

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 14: Downfall of Etemon**_


	14. Downfall of Etemon

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_The digidestined and Jade have left File Island and have arrived on the continent of Server with Whamon's help. The only thing they need to do is gather the seven crests that are scattered throughout Server, and once they have the crests their digimon partners will be able to digivolve to the Ultimate level. The crest of Courage (Tai) has been found, as has the crest of Reliability (Joe). Tai's personality took a turn for the worst and now his positive relationship with Jade looks like it's gone forever. Greymon was forced to dark digivolve into SkullGreymon and Jade drained him of his power, forcing him to then de-digivolve into Koromon. Now Mimi has her crest of Sincerity, Matt and Izzy have their crests of Friendship and Knowledge, and Jade has regained her memories of her first adventure in the Digital World._

_Tai, Joe, Izzy and Sora are in Etemon's Headquarters having broken in to rescue to Datamon. But Datamon betrayed them._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 14: Downfall of Etemon

* * *

Tai opened his eyes to find that he was face down on the floor. He felt horrible, and his head was pounding as if a rock band had set up shop on his forehead and was playing for a crowd of screaming fans. He was still in the pyramid, and there was still fighting around them, but it was like someone had hit the mute button. He looked up as much as he could, saw Izzy hiding behind the stand that had held Datamon, Joe was using the wall to help him stand, Sora was crouched over Biyomon protectively, and the other digimon staggering to their feet to attack again.

"Tough luck!" Etemon suddenly crowed. "Looks like I won again!"

"It's not over yet, monkey breath," Datamon hissed at him. The fight that Tai had heard was the one between Datamon and Etemon, and Tai wasn't really surprised that Etemon won. Then Datamon did the unforgivable.

He grabbed Sora and Biyomon.

"Just wait," Datamon told Etemon. "With their powers harnessed to my own I'll be more than a match for you!"

Tai struggled to his feet, helplessness creeping in as his muscles refused to work properly. He couldn't just let the can opener take Sora and Biyomon. Sora started to struggle, realizing what was happening, but Biyomon was still unconscious. In that moment Tai realized that Sora had been right. It was a trap. A trap designed for Sora because she was the only one without a crest yet.

Datamon laughed as he carried Biyomon and Sora away through the door that Etemon had used to enter the room.

"Come back here you bratty little –" Etemon cried, starting to run after them. But he was stopped by the other three digimon he had forgotten about. Tai made it to his feet and started to run. He was the fastest player on his soccer team, no pint-sized digimon was going to be able to outrun him.

"Sora!" he screamed out, hoping that she could tell him where she was. Joe and Izzy appeared behind him, and for a moment Tai wondered at how they were able to keep up. They never had before. And then he staggered and it was only Joe's quick actions that prevented him from face-planting on the ground. When he looked up it was to see the electric fence again, and all thought left his brain as he tried to go through it.

_Tai!_

"They've gone back out through the firewall," Izzy stated unnecessarily.

"Okay, the weak point was here, right?" Tai asked as he stumbled forward.

"Wait a minute! Let me get back on line so I can find it!"

"We don't have time for that Izzy," Tai snapped in desperation. "Sora needs us! Can't you hear her?"

"No," Joe told him slowly. "Sora was muffled by Datamon, she couldn't call out to us."

"I heard her!" Tai insisted. "I need to get to her! I'm not going to let some stupid fence stop me from saving her!"

"You go through at the wrong spot and there won't be anything of you to save Sora with." Izzy snapped at him as he typed madly away at his computer.

"I don't care!" Tai snapped. He stumbled forward again but this time Joe grabbed him from behind to stop him from trying to kill himself. "Let me go Joe! I need to make sure she's alright! She has to be!"

"Pain still hurts Tai!" Joe told him softly, but keeping a tight hold.

"You don't know what pain is!" Tai yelled. "Sora! SORA!"

"What are you thinking Tai?" Izzy asked him sternly. "Do you want to get yourself killed?"

"Almost every day since I was eight!" Tai snapped back. The two gasped in shock, but at least Joe didn't let him go so that he would fly into the wire. "You don't understand what it's like to be nothing but a disappointment to your family! Nothing I do ever turns out right. People get hurt because of me! And now because I wasn't fast enough Sora is…Sora is…"

"Tai," Joe breathed.

"Let me go," Tai begged, tears in his eyes. "I have to save her."

"The weak point is one meter to your right," Izzy eventually said, his tone no longer confrontational. Tai stepped to the right, but his strength was fading and he stumbled. Izzy and Joe cried out in alarm, but before they could do much else the wall to the left broke apart as their de-digivolved partners came into view.

"Sorry," Agumon whimpered. "We held him as long as we could."

Etemon walked through the hole in the wall with casual arrogance. It was too late to go after Sora now, they would need to regroup and come up with another plan. Joe made sure that Tai was on his feet, supporting most of his weight, and shielded him from Etemon.

"Now to finish off you kids and put an end to your annoying interference," Etemon stated as he cracked his knuckles. Izzy took a few steps back so that he was standing next to Joe. They didn't say anything, even though they were trying to come up with a plan of escape. Fortunately, they were saved when the roof collapsed in front of them and two friendly digital faces appeared.

Togemon and Garurumon, with Matt on Garurumon's back.

While Garurumon worked on creating a diversion, Matt ushered the others out of the pyramid with the help of Togemon throwing them up through the hole that they had created. Izzy was the first to go, and he helped to catch the weakened digimon as they came up. Joe waited until the end with Tai, and Matt's alarmed face as he looked at Tai let the oldest boy know that something was wrong.

"Where's Sora?" Matt asked with darting eyes.

"We'll explain everything later," Joe promised. "But now is not the time."

Matt nodded, and between the two of them they were able to get Tai out of the pyramid and onto Garurumon's back for a quick escape. Joe and Izzy sat with their digimon on their laps on top of Togemon's punching gloves, while Agumon and Tai balanced in front of Matt. What concerned Joe the most, however, was that Tai hadn't spoken a word since his failure to get through the firewall.

Back at the sphinx, the children decided that it would be better if they retreated back to the canyon so that Etemon couldn't find them, and so that they could recover in relative safety. The digimon were fine after a little food and a rest, their abilities helping them to recover, but of the three humans who had gotten out, Tai was easily the most injured.

"Why's it always Tai?" Jade asked Mimi as they watched Joe wipe away the blood from Tai's forehead. He had knocked it when he crashed into the wall, but the cut itself was shallow so there was no danger. Tai just had a concussion and a few sore muscles.

"Because he thinks that because he's the leader he needs to stand in front of everyone," Mimi told her. Palmon was sitting on her lap, but it was clear to all that everyone wanted to know where Sora was. So as Joe worked, he explained what had happened. The only part he left out was Tai's declaration that he had tried to kill himself for years. That he would discuss with Tai when they were alone.

"It's all my fault," Tai muttered as soon as Joe had finished the story telling. He pulled his knees to his chest and hid his face in his knees. "My fault…"

"It's not your fault," Joe told him instantly, his tone of voice stern. "We're all in this together Tai. We'll find a way to get them back."

"But if I was just that little bit quicker we could have gotten through the firewall before Etemon stopped us," Tai continued, tears in his eyes. "I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't…It's all my fault! Sora! It's all my fault!"

As Tai broke down in tears, Jade saw that something was really wrong. Painful bruises, they don't bother me; broken ribs, just a little wince; I don't feel well, I can deal with it…but never had Tai broken down so completely in front of the others. He was a 'suffer in silence' type of person, so he had finally reached the end of what he could cope with. She walked forward and knelt in front of Tai, her hand coming up to rest on his knee. The small hand caused Tai's head to shoot up in shock, and Jade was scared of what she could see.

"It's not your fault," she whispered seriously. "I promise, it's not your fault."

A weight lifted off Tai's shoulders as he slumped. The others were amazed at the change, and thoughts and realizations came to them about what Jade meant to Tai. Despite everything that Joe had said in the pyramid, he knew that Tai didn't believe a word of it. Maybe he could get the two of them to talk, and Jade could convince Tai that his death would hurt more people than he realized.

The sun started to go down and it was far too late to go after Sora and Biyomon. Jade forced Tai to lie down and rest, his head resting on her lap, and Matt and Joe were startled to see how relaxed the boy now looked. The past few days had stressed them all out, but it was like Jade was a balm for Tai's soul. Izzy retreated into the tunnel again, searching for Sora and Biyomon via his laptop and the digi-code. The digimon gathered off to the side, and TK integrated himself into their group to sleep for the night. Normally, Jade would be with him, but she refused to leave her place by the fire now that Tai had finally calmed down.

"So, what are we going to do?" Matt asked around a mouthful of food. His eyes darted to each of the four others who were around their fire pit, a hint of desperation and worry leaking into his question. Tai was the only one not eating, but Jade was dropping bits of broken up food into his mouth so that he would have something in his stomach.

"Rescue Sora," Tai stated decisively, even if he was horizontal.

"We don't have a clue where to start looking for her," Joe cautioned him. He decided that he would play the devil's advocate just to impress up the seriousness of the situation. "Besides, we could all end up dead…or worse."

"What if Datamon does something to harm Sora while we sit here on our butts?" Tai asked passionately. He sat up slowly and swiveled so that he was facing everyone.

"Look Tai, he's already beaten our brains out once," Matt told him. "What makes you think he won't do it again? We need to come up with a plan before we go anywhere."

"I can help out," Jade stated. "I know where Sora and Biyomon are."

"You do?" Joe asked her, his eyebrows rose in shock. "Where are they?"

"In the pyramid," Jade told him. "I don't know directions or anything, but Izzy will probably have something for us eventually. He's manipulating the digi-code better than most digimon ever could."

"That still leaves us with the problem that Datamon kicked our butts today, and easily," Matt repeated. Mimi sighed sadly as she thought about Sora.

"This is more depressing than a soap opera," she mumbled.

"It's tough not knowing what to do," Matt agreed.

"But we do know what to do," Jade told him in confusion. "We go in, grab Sora and Biyomon, and defeat all in our path. Sora would do the same for any of us if our positions were reversed."

"The minute I saw what was happening," Tai muttered, staring at his hands. "I should have gone after her."

"It's no use blaming yourself, Tai," Joe told him, hearing the muttered words. "We're really all to blame."

"Yeah, and we're all going to find a way to get her back," Matt added in a supportive manner. "Chin up dude!"

"Do you blame Matt for letting Devimon separate him and TK?" Jade suddenly asked Tai, her eyes firm.

"What? No!" Tai stuttered.

"Do you blame Leomon for obeying me and ensuring that you were nowhere near Devimon's Mansion when Devimon attacked me?"

"No!" Tai told her, horrified.

"And Gennai?" Jade continued. She was glad that the others were letting her talk without interfering.

"For what?"

"Then why do you blame yourself for something that not even you could control?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know that you blame yourself for me being in the Digital World," Jade told him. "But the truth is that I would have appeared here regardless of whether or not I was on your back. I'm marked by this place, and I have no need for a digivice to be able to be here. Devimon, Etemon and all the other digimon we have come across have more knowledge, and more power, than you. They don't care about who the leader of this group is. Sora was taken because she is the only one who hasn't found their crest yet. If TK had been the only one without one, or Matt, or Izzy, they would have been taken instead of Sora. If you didn't have a crest, you would have been taken by Datamon."

"But-"

"No 'but's Tai," Jade told him, using her finger to tap his nose. "You are a great leader. I know the others agree with me when I say that I'm glad you're here. Yes, you can be a bit annoying when you're determined to do something, and your ability to hate frightens me more than I expected it to, but we're all here, alive, because of you."

"Jade's right Tai," Matt added before Tai could say anything. "I've seen how you treat everyone, especially TK and Jade. Aside from that one time, you've never yelled at either of them, and you treat them both like an older brother would treat a younger sibling. I'm a little jealous of how easy it comes to you, but I appreciate it. I know that I'm not the only one looking out for my brother."

"Agreed," Joe added. "I had a go at being the leader, but that was just with me and Sora. The entire time that I was 'in charge' had me terrified, and I couldn't see how you could do it. You handled the pressure so well, and you never flinched when we needed you."

"All of us count on you Tai," Mimi stated sincerely. "I know that if it hadn't been for your encouragement and determination to get us home, we probably would still be sitting on the beach with a bunch of broken phone booths. Or Devimon would have got us if you hadn't figured out how to use the digivices to fight against the darkness of the Black Gears."

"We need you," Jade finished. "You are the bearer of the crest of Courage. The crests are not handed out lightly, and to have their Guardians part from them was no easy task. You have it, because you deserve it, and you possess the trait that it represents. Your bravery, your courage, will get us through this."

"…thanks guys," Tai finally stated, looking at each of them with a soft smile on his face. He cleared his throat and rubbed his left arm. He looked back up at Jade. "So, you know who the crests belonged to before we had them?"

"They're the keys that keep this world safe and secure," Jade told him with a smile. She would have said more but at that moment Izzy rushed out of the tunnel in excitement. His voice, which should have been lowered due to the fact that TK and the digimon were sleeping, was raised so that they woke up when he spoke.

"Hey! I've got it! I know where Sora is!"

The five surrounding the fire got up to follow Izzy back in, and TK was pushed into an upright position by Gabumon so that he could join them. He was still blinking sleep out of his eyes when Izzy pulled up the schematics of the pyramid, but after seeing what Izzy was talking about he woke up quickly enough.

"I think Datamon only pretended to take them away," Izzy began. "But in reality they've been right here the whole time."

The others already knew that, but it was the exact location that they hadn't known before. Jade stood next to Izzy and tried to see what it was that he could see.

"Are you telling me that they're still right here in the pyramid?" Tai asked, just to confirm everything for TK and the digimon.

"Yes. I've discovered that way down below the pyramid is a secret room. I just know that that's where he's keeping them. He's found the perfect hiding place right under Etemon's nose."

"Huh," Jade mumbled. "How far does the pyramid go underground?"

"I think this is as deep as it goes," Izzy told her as he brought up the image so everyone could see it. "There are no tunnels that go below this room."

"There's got to be a way in," Tai stated, punching his left hand excitedly. "I don't care what I have to do. I'm going to find that room and bring Sora back! Guys, I totally understand if you'd rather wait here."

"Didn't we just go through this?" Jade asked him sternly.

"Enough with the guilt trip, I'm coming with you," Matt told him.

"Remember the old saying Tai: There is no I in TEAM," Mimi added.

"Can I come too if I'm brave?" TK asked. Tai looked at all the faces staring at him, and he smiled. It was like he had finally recovered from whatever was plaguing him.

"Alright," he decided. "Now, let's go get Sora!"

* * *

The plan was to set out as soon as the sun rose, but Jade couldn't sleep now that everything was falling into place. So instead she slipped out so that she could sit in the mouth of the sphinx and stare at the pyramid. It was because of this that she saw the slow maneuvering of Etemon's troops so that the pyramid was surrounded. It would be impossible to sneak in again. Jade frowned at the emotions she was sensing, but there was little that she could do.

She was a Guardian of the Digital World, and despite some calling her a demigod, she was not all-powerful. She told herself when she first took over after Lucemon that she would never force digimon to do anything. Their choices would be theirs alone, and the consequences would be theirs as well. She would help if she was asked to help, but interfering in every digimon's life was illogical as it would create simple minded creatures, unable to think for themselves. She didn't want that.

"You should be sleeping," Agumon told her. Jade turned to look at him with a smile and patted the ground next to her in invitation. He took it.

"The digimon regret working for Etemon," she told Agumon quietly. "They don't want to be there. They want to be at home with their families."

"How much _do_ you remember, about your life here?"

"All of it," Jade told him. "My empathy is a little stronger now because I'm older, and I suppose that in a few years I'll be even more proficient at using it."

"Do you know why we were chosen?"

"As the partner of a digidestined?" Jade asked. "That's simple, you were created with your partner in mind, someone who was similar to you, and someone who you would be able to grow with. Gennai hand-picked each digimon partner, and with the help of two other former digidestined, he selected the humans."

"Gennai chose us?" Agumon asked. "But, he said that he couldn't remember! That he didn't know who chose us!"

"Of course he did," Jade laughed. "Have you seen him? He's gotten old. It's only been twenty something years in the Human World since the digidestined were first summoned, but he never left. Centuries have passed for him here."

"What did he look like?"

Jade slipped her hand into her backpack and pulled out the photo she had of her and the digimon. She pointed to the youngish man with brown hair and a white robe.

"That's Gennai," she explained. "He ages really slowly, but he still ages. The Andromon we met on File Island, he's Gennai's digimon partner, but he looks after the baby digimon before they're ready to go and explore the rest of the world. That's Guilmon, I never met his partner...I think she turned her back on the Digital World after her friend died. Wizardmon hasn't been the same since. He barely talked when I wanted to play with him, but Gennai said that he was doing better after I arrived. I was the same age as his partner when she first entered the Digital World. In the Human World, she died, ten years ago? I don't know the exact time."

"These were the original protectors of the Digital World?" Agumon breathed, his hand tracing over the digimon immortalized on film.

"Yep! And this is Kudamon, his partner is Akili. I met him once, and that was great fun. He could speak English, which was good because that's all I knew back then, and he told me stories about Guilmon's partner. She was a little firecracker, but she was passionate in everything that she did. Her crest was Compassion, and Akili's was Wisdom. Gennai's was Trust, and he was the leader of the digidestined, like Tai is now. And then this is Dorumon, his partner is Michael, who holds the crest of Determination. He came often in the two years that I was here, but I didn't see him after the Dark Masters started to make a mess of things. I guess Gennai asked him to stay away."

"And who's that?" Agumon asked, pointing to the black kitten in Jade's arms.

"My partner," Jade said with a smile. "He's also the one that Gennai is afraid of."

"Why?"

"Because before Tomomon had even hatched, the others knew that he was a digimon of pure evil. They didn't want his existence to threaten the Digital World, but I convinced them to let me keep him. He is a part of me, and I was the only one he trusted. I guess, I created him."

"How?"

"That's a story for another time," Jade told him as she put the photo away in her bag. She saw her bracelet that Tai had given her, but it wasn't time yet to put it back on. As the sun rose over the desert Jade's eyes snapped to the pyramid. Someone had just put Sora's crest into her tag, and she knew that it wasn't Sora.

_The crest of Love – will shine for one who burns with love_

Still, she heard what the crest was and mentioned to Agumon what had caught her attention. He nodded and pulled her back into the tunnel where they could come up with a plan on how to rescue Sora. They were still the only ones awake, but they didn't have to wait long. Tentomon awoke first, and Jade requested that he fly high over the pyramid to get an idea about how Etemon had arranged his troops. The insect digimon disappeared with a nod and returned just as Izzy was activating his virtual map again.

"So, the pyramid is surrounded," Jade spoke up as the others sleepily made their way towards her and Izzy. "And Sora and Biyomon haven't moved all night."

"Damn for the first thing, good for the second," Joe told her. "So what do we do?"

"Decoys!" Jade cheered. "I can be a really good distraction. Etemon won't know what hit him and I can have him away from the pyramid in no time at all."

"Ah, it's not that I don't think you can do it Jade." Tai began.

"She can." Agumon assured his partner.

"It's just you don't want me to go off on my own." Jade finished for Tai, a slump in her shoulders. She wanted to lead as many digimon away from Etemon so that they could go home.

"Boy, with so many digimon surrounding the pyramid like this, there's no way we can get in there without someone seeing us." Izzy muttered as little red dots appeared around the pyramid to show the enemy. He had completely ignored the conversation behind him.

"Well, that's exactly why we're going to be acting as decoys," Matt told him, warming up to Jade's idea. Jade grinned at him in delight.

"Right," Tentomon agreed

"Now Tai," Joe began, strategizing as he talked. "When the enemy starts chasing after us, you and Agumon have got to get inside the pyramid quickly without being seen by anyone. Got it?"

Tai was clearly unwilling to use the decoy idea, but he had to admit that if they wanted to succeed they needed to get the bulk of the digimon away from the entrance. So he nodded slowly and turned back to Izzy. He dropped his hand on Izzy's shoulder to let him know that he was being addressed.

"You do have directions for me, don't you?"

"Yeah…but just one more thing." Izzy said, pulling his gaze from the computer. Tai's face fell.

"Why do I want to throw up every time you say 'one more thing'?"

"Okay, now to enter the secret room you have to take a hidden passage, but there's another electrified wall to get passed, just like the room Datamon was in." Izzy explained. Tai gulped as he imagined the electricity rushing through the wires, and he ignored the minor twinge of desire as he imagined it coursing through his body. It was the desire that had him paling, if he died, there wouldn't be anyone to save Sora.

"Do you think you can make it Tai?" Agumon asked worriedly, seeing the pale face.

"I don't care what the wall is, I'm going through." Tai told him. Jade bumped his side in concern, though she didn't say anything. He nodded at her, knowing that he wouldn't be able to smile reassuringly, but he was promising that he would be careful.

"Now," Joe began, his focus on Tai. "Try not to do anything stupid, and stay out of unnecessary trouble Tai. Remember, the important thing is saving Sora."

"Right." Tai told him. He and Izzy would be going into the pyramid alone, while everyone else would be acting as decoys and annoying Etemon.

"And you guys try not to do anything stupid either." Izzy added, his gaze on everyone else. "If you run into Etemon just turn around and run the other way."

"You got that TK?" Matt asked. He would be acting as a main decoy and would be drawing Etemon's forces off in one direction, and Joe would be going in another.

"Yeah." TK stated, do his best to hide his nerves.

"Whoever doesn't come back alive is going to be in a lot of trouble, alright?" Mimi informed them sternly. "So take care, but don't take unnecessary risks."

"If this plan is to work, everyone has to get their part exactly right." Tai said aloud, worry in his tone. They all left the pyramid in single file, but while Tai, Izzy, Mimi, TK and their digimon went around the back of the sphinx to get close to the pyramid, Matt, Garurumon, Joe, Ikkakumon and Jade went the other way. Of course, Jade was supposed to go and hide with TK and Mimi, but she had decided at the last minute that that wasn't where she needed to be.

She watched from the shadows of the sand dunes as Ikkakumon bombed the pyramid and drew the majority of the forces towards him. Joe was sitting on his back, but as soon as the Monochromon and Tyrannomon got too close for him they were running away. Garurumon joined in by attacking the rear of the charging group, and that group was cut in half as they separated to go after each of the 'attackers'. From the pyramid Etemon emerged in all his glory and started to run after Matt and Joe, intent on destroying them.

That was when Jade made her move.

She stepped in front of the charging Etemon with a pleasant smile on her face. Her hands were clasped behind her back, but what Etemon couldn't see was her white knuckles as she was clenching her hands hard enough that her fingernails had broken the skin on her palm.

"Hello Minor Lord Etemon," she told him when he was close enough to hear her. "Does the Lord of Darkness know what you've been up to?"

* * *

"Oh god, what's Jade doing?" Tai asked, his face white in horror.

"We can't abandon our part of the mission." Izzy told him, though it was clear that he was reluctant to move.

"Go you two," Mimi ordered. "Palmon and I will go and help her out."

"But…"

"Tai, Sora needs you too," Mimi told him. "We'll take care of everything out here, you take care of everything in there. Alright?"

Tai was still reluctant, but he told himself that he needed to trust his friends. So he called to Izzy and started to run, Agumon close on his heels.

"She'll be alright Tai," Agumon told him. "She knows what she's doing."

"But she's still just a nine year old kid," Tai muttered. "With no digimon partner to help and protect her, she's a sitting duck."

"She does have a partner," Agumon rebutted. "He's just…unreachable at the moment."

"And Jade is on her own."

"Trust her Tai, it's what she needs from you and the others. She needs you to trust her to do the right thing."

"I just don't want her to get hurt. Is that wrong?"

"Only when you take it to extremes," Agumon cautioned. "She may be nine, but she's also our Sovereign. She is the reason that we're alive at all."

"What?"

"When you get to the wall, just keep running," Izzy called from behind him.

"Gotcha!" Tai called back. He looked at Agumon. "We'll talk more about that later, alright?"

"Right," Agumon agreed.

They ran down the same path they had taken the day before, and they didn't come across anyone or anything. At least, they didn't until they stumbled upon some rubble blocking the same passageway they needed to use. Tai stopped running and gapped at the destruction in front of them.

"The passage is blocked!" he gasped out.

"It's a dead end!" Agumon stated in disbelief.

"Not necessarily," Izzy told them both, looking to the right of the passageway and directly opposite the passageway they were supposed to have taken. "Why don't we try that door over there?"

Tai darted through and looked both ways to make sure that there were no unwanted surprises waiting for them.

"It's clear, let's go."

* * *

Jade stared up at Etemon serenely, but on the inside she was freaking out. She didn't want to transform, but she might have to if Etemon attacked her with everything that he had. The monkey digimon skidded to a halt as he noticed her, and underneath his glasses his eyes narrowed as she spoke of things that no human should have been aware of.

"The Lord of Darkness is weak," Etemon growled at her. "He's spent the last couple hundred years destroying the sanctuary of all dark digimon, and here is the only place that we could live."

"So you're destroying the home and livelihood of all other digimon?" Jade asked him, making a mental note about what he had said about the Shadow World. "You know that you cannot be allowed to continue?"

"And who are you to stop me?" Etemon asked her with a cruel laugh. "You're just a tag-a-long, you're not one of the digidestined. You have no power."

"Ha!" Jade laughed as she slowly brought her hands to her side. "I'm so much more. You see, I may have been gone a while, but now that I'm back I cannot allow you to harm _my_ subjects. These digimon are under my protection."

"Muhaha!" Etemon cackled. "You're pretty amusing. I may just keep you as my pet!"

"_Fire Strike!_" Jade cried as she threw a fireball at Etemon. Unprepared as he was, Etemon staggered backwards. It was the easiest attack that she had at her disposal in her completely human form, but it was powerful in its own right. Etemon stopped laughing and stared at her intently.

"Who are you?" he eventually asked.

"Oh, no one special," Jade grinned. "I believe that the digimon call me Sovereign, but you, I suppose you could say that I'm the angel of your nightmares."

"Phoenixmon…" Etemon breathed in horror. "No! I won't believe that! You're just some snot-nosed kid!"

"You want to take that chance?"

"_Dark Network!_" Etemon roared as he threw a ball of sickly green energy at her. Jade darted to the side so that it missed her, but the digimon forces that were behind her and fighting Matt and Joe weren't so lucky. Their screams had Jade narrowing her eyes in disapproval, and she threw another fireball. Seeing the attack, Etemon threw another ball of energy and the two balls collided in mid-air. The shock-wave that it created sent both human and digimon flying in opposite directions.

"Oh boy," Joe breathed as he saw what was happening. "Ikkakumon, we have to go and get her."

"I got her!" Matt called to him as he darted passed on Garurumon. Joe nodded to him and ordered Ikkakumon to instead attack Etemon to distract him. He saw, through the dust cloud, that Matt had grabbed a hold of Jade's arm and swung her up behind him. She clung to his waist as they darted out of the way. Etemon, in turn, turned to face Joe in annoyance.

"You're becoming a nuisance, son," he told him.

"Of course, it's because I'm a teenager," Joe replied without thinking.

"I'll admit that it's been fun toying with you," Etemon continued. "But playtime's over. It's the end of the line for you and your goat, baby."

"Goat?" Ikkakumon asked. He raised his voice in aggravation. "I'm not a goat!"

"Remember what Izzy said?" Joe told Ikkakumon. "If we run into Etemon, run the other way?"

"I hate running away," Ikkakumon grumbled. Regardless, he did as was asked and ran from Etemon as attack after attack was aimed at them. Matt arrived as back-up, and when Garurumon attacked with his _howling blaster_, Jade threw more fireballs just to annoy the monkey. Mimi and Togemon arrived shortly after that, and a triangle of sorts was created, surrounding Etemon.

The humans got off the digimon and stood to the side as they watched how the digimon would attack, and how the attack failed. Matt kept Jade at his side, despite her protests, and she glowered as she crossed her arms with a pout. Then, from the edge of her senses, she picked up Togemon's small spark making its way towards them. She turned to look, making sure that it looked like she was staring at Matt, and resisted the temptation to smile as she was what looked like a flat stretch of sand making its way towards them.

TK and Tokomon had clearly decided that they could help out by bringing the sandy blanket closer to them so that when Etemon was distracted they could hide without him noticing. She turned her attention back to Etemon as he threw first Garurumon, and then Ikkakumon towards Matt. Both Matt and Joe cried out in horror, and then Mimi as Togemon was attacked with her own needles. Etemon grinned at all of them, and his grin only widened when he looked at Jade. He pulled his microphone from behind his back, and for a brief moment Jade tried to figure out where it had come from.

That thought left her mind, however, when he started to sing. She knew now, that due to her separation from Tomomon, she was more susceptible to dark energies, which is why she was often in pain when she felt them. Tomomon's presence acted like a buffer, so that while she would still feel the darkness, it wouldn't cripple her like it was doing now. She screamed and clutched at her head, her back arching as she threw her head backwards. The only reason she didn't drop to the ground was because Matt caught her before she could. The digimon de-digivolved as their energy was zapped, and Joe rushed over to where his partner, Matt and Jade were.

"And don't forget to tip your waitress!" Etemon ordered. He looked like he was about to finish them all off, but he was distracted and turned to face the pyramid instead. Jade quickly summoned TK over with one hand, her headache dulling slightly, and everyone was quickly hidden under the blanket. Joe pulled Jade close to him, holding her against his chest, and she gratefully hid her eyes in the darkness of his shirt until her headache faded.

"He's got a lot of anger," Matt stated as Etemon ran off to the pyramid.

"And he sure gets mad easy," TK added. The others laughed at the accuracy of his statement and pushed aside the blanket.

"At least we can still laugh about it," Joe muttered as he pulled Jade to her feet. She smiled at him gratefully before she, too, looked to the pyramid. Matt voiced her thoughts fairly accurately.

"What about Tai?"

"Oh that's right," Mimi realized. "Something tells me that he's not laughing right about now."

"We need to get there," Jade told them. "Come on."

"When all this is over, you are in so much trouble young lady," Joe warned her as he started to run after her. "What were you thinking? Taking on Etemon alone?"

"I needed to know why he was damaging this world," Jade called over her shoulder. "If what he told me is true, then there is another digimon out there who is in major trouble when I get a hold of him."

"Who?" TK asked as he struggled to catch up.

"My partner!"

* * *

"Looks like the Gazimon have figured out we're here," Tai muttered as they stared through a not-wall at the patrolling Gazimon. There were way too many to be able to sneak through without being detected.

"And we're so close to the room," Izzy grumbled. He pointed to the right of the passageway they needed to get onto. It sloped down until it became a staircase. "I think the main passage that leads to Etemon's private lab is located at the bottom of this stairway."

"Let's move," Tai decided. However, before they could move the roof above them caved in and Etemon appeared in all his anger and annoyance. The four of them screamed in fright and ran out of the hidden passageway and down the stairs before Etemon could attack them. Well, Tai headed towards the stairs but Izzy stopped and turned to face Etemon.

"Izzy?!" Tai cried as he too stopped, realizing he was alone.

"Now! Before I cancel you like a bad sit-com, direct me to Datamon!" Etemon ordered, glaring at Izzy who was the closest to him.

"Go find Sora!" Izzy ordered Tai. "Tentomon –digivolve!"

"But, Izzy!" Tai tried again.

"I've got your back Tai!" Izzy told him seriously. "I don't know what's going on with you, but I've got your back. Now go! We'll be fine!"

Tai still looked indecisive, battling with his need to rescue Sora, and his determination to protect his friends from danger. Hoping that he wouldn't regret his decision, Tai turned and ran with Agumon.

"Hold him Kabuterimon!" he called over his shoulder. He heard Etemon protesting, and as he ran he hoped that Etemon's location meant that the others were alright and had managed to escape. He didn't know what he would do if any of them had been hurt because he wasn't fast enough to do his part.

The two ran through another not-wall and came face-to-face with the firewall that Izzy had warned them about. Tai froze. He had no idea where the safe entry was, and he had bigger things to worry about than what it would feel like to be electrocuted.

"Oh great." he mumbled.

"The electric wall." Agumon breathed, unnecessarily. "I can break through it Tai."

"Wait, I'll do it Agumon," Tai told him, holding out an arm to prevent the digimon from walking forward.

"Are you sure?" Agumon asked, concerned.

"Not exactly," Tai told him, walking forward slightly. "But if I don't do this on my own, right here, right now, I may never be able to do it. A man must face himself before he can face his enemies. I have to get passed my own feelings and desires, my fears, in order to do what is right."

"I think I understand Tai." Agumon told him, watching as Tai raised his arm so that it was inches from the wall. "Go for it! I know you can do it!"

He did his best to be encouraging, but inside he was terrified that his partner was about to become a pile of ash in front of him. Tai was panicking about the same thing, but he gathered what little bravery he thought he had and thrust his hand forward, expecting to feel the hot currant of electricity coursing through his veins. His eyes were closed, but when nothing happened he opened them to see his arm through the wall, and realizing that he had found the weak point on his own.

"I did it!" he cried in half surprise and half shock.

"Yippee!" Agumon cheered in relief.

It was at that moment that Tai registered two things. The first was that Kabuterimon and Etemon were rolling down the stairs behind them, the fight clearly ending in Etemon's favor The second thing was that Tai's crest was glowing under his shirt. He stared at it in surprise for a long moment before turning to look at the fight behind him.

"So, we meet again." Etemon stated, looking at Tai and Agumon.

"Not for long," Tai warned him, warmth growing in his body as his crest kept glowing. He spotted Izzy making his way down the stairs, and Izzy's eyes widened in shock at seeing the glowing crest. Kabuterimon let out a gasp of pain.

"Agumon!" Tai ordered, Agumon nodded and digivolved into Greymon. As he digivolved, he felt something different in Tai. It wasn't just that his crest was glowing, it was like the darkness in him was fading slightly. It made the now digivolved Greymon feel more powerful than normal as he turned to face Etemon.

"Tai, break through to Sora," he ordered with a feral grin.

"Good luck Greymon!" Tai called as he ran through the firewall.

The first thing he noticed was Datamon sitting on a data terminal with Sora standing next to him making no effort to escape from him. She didn't look to be hurt, or tied up, and Tai couldn't figure why she hadn't rushed to him when he appeared. He was here to rescue her, but she looked like…a zombie. What had Datamon done to her?

"Sora, are you alright?" Tai asked her as he ran forward. "Sora?! Speak to me!"

"That's not Sora!" Biyomon suddenly called to him. "That's just a copy!"

Tai froze in his run and looked to the left. He first saw Biyomon tied up against the wall, completely immobile, but on a table in front of her was another Sora, but this one was tied up. Tai's eyes went completely wide as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

"Here Tai," the real Sora called to him. Tai took a few steps towards her when Datamon spoke.

"And now the copy is finished!" he crowed. "I will give her the magic crest and she will become the new Sora, and do whatever I require of her."

"That's what you think you pile of junk!" Tai growled. He saw Sora's digivice, tag and crest sitting on the data terminal, and he rushed forward to grab it before Datamon could give it to the not-Sora.

"No! What do you think you're doing?!" Datamon screamed at him. "I cannot permit a mere boy to stop my plans of vengeance!"

"I'm coming Sora!" Tai yelled as he spun back to head to Sora's side. Her belongings were in his right hand, and true fear and panic enveloped him as a hole formed around Sora, allowing her to fall into what looked like oblivion. He dove and caught her with his left hand, doing his best to keep them both from falling. He cried out as he slid forward slightly, and true terror formed at the thought that they would both die and no one would know what had happened.

Underneath them was a mass of black cables wrapped around each other. Tai wasn't as susceptible to the feeling of darkness as Jade was, but he knew that just from looking at the cables that they radiated dark energy.

"That is the center of Etemon's Dark Power Network," Datamon explained as he walked over slowly. Tai glared at him but was unable to do anything as the little robot extended his arms to hold onto Tai's left forearm, and Sora's right wrist. "Anything sucked in there is lost to all eternity. And since I have no more use for the original I will get rid of it."

He tightened his grip on their arms and they both cried out in pain. What no one knew about Tai, but what Joe and Izzy probably suspected by now, was that Tai suffered from depression, and had since his sister's near death when he was eight. It had started out as an accident, where he had tripped and cut himself. The pain from the wound and the sight of the blood had calmed him, and ever since then he had cut his left arm when he was feeling really depressed. It was why he wore a black armband, so that no one could see the scars. It had been a year since he last cut himself, and that was because he had Jade to write to when he was feeling down. But when Datamon grabbed him, he was crushing his left arm where his scars were.

"Tai! The crest!" Biyomon called to him. Tai forced his eyes open, unaware of when he had closed them, and looked down at Sora. She was in pain too, but Tai refused to let go of her regardless of how much Datamon was hurting him.

"Yes, the crest is the way that you may save the maiden's life," Datamon whispered to him. "…If you give it to me."

"Yeah?!" Tai snapped at him. "Why don't you go tell Etemon your sad story, because we're not interested!"

He held his right hand over the pit and dropped Sora's digivice and crest, with the order for her to catch them. Sora easily did so, and both ignored Datamon's order to stop. Tai smirked at him through his pain.

"You're not scared are you Datamon?"

"Biyomon digivolve to – Birdramon!"

Birdramon immediately swept closer to Tai and Sora and lowered her leg so that the two could grab on and be lifted out of the hole.

"Stay back you blasted crow!" Datamon ordered as he was forced to let go of the two humans. "What do you think you're doing?! Those are mine!"

Birdramon ignored the little digimon, and after making sure that Tai and Sora were alright, blasted down the wall that Tai had come through…and dropping the electrical fence on top of Etemon. The monkey screamed as the electricity shocked him, but the others ignored that as they spotted each other.

"You're out!" Greymon cried in delight.

"You made it!" Izzy added with a smile. His smile only dimmed slightly when he saw how Tai was cradling his left arm, but at Tai's subtle head shake he didn't say anything

"I never thought I'd see you again!" Sora told him and the digimon happily.

"We can celebrate later," Tai told her as he gently pushed her towards the stairs. "Now would be a good time to go before someone stops us again."

All nodded in agreement with his decision and started to run back the way they had come. Tai took the lead, but that was mainly so that the others wouldn't see the expression of agony on his face. His arm was pulsing in time with his heartbeat, and it hurt. He was just about positive that it was broken, but if he were to let the others see his arm they would know about his secret. He didn't want them to know how weak he was, he needed to be strong for them. He kept his left arm close to his body to prevent it from moving around too much, and he hoped that Sora's arm wasn't broken.

"_Nova Blast!_" Greymon roared as a ball of fire shattered the outer wall of the pyramid. They all smiled as they spotted the others running to them, and Tai masked his pain by smiling at them. Sora was instantly pulled into a hug by Mimi, but Joe and Matt rushed over to Tai and Izzy. As Tai was slightly in front of Izzy, he didn't see the computer genius point to his left arm and then to Tai to signify to Joe that the boy was hurt. Joe could see that there was something wrong with Tai's arm, but he still nodded to Izzy to show that he had understood.

He wasn't able to ask Tai about his injury, however, because at that moment the ground beneath them shook and it was like the air around them was pulling them back into the pyramid.

"We have to get away from the pyramid!" Jade yelled as she tried to fight against the pull. Birdramon leaned down so that Sora, Mimi, Palmon, TK and Tokomon could climb onto her neck, Kabuterimon gathered up Izzy, Joe and Gomamon, and Greymon lifted Tai, Matt, Gabumon and Jade onto his head. They started to run or fly as quickly as they could away from what was essentially a black hole.

"What happened back there?" Joe asked over the roar of the wind.

"I suspect the computer blew!" Izzy told him.

"Look at the pyramid!" Sora ordered as she looked behind them. Everyone followed her gaze and gaped.

"It's disintegrating!" Tai breathed.

The digimon stopped fleeing to allow the children to stand on the ground. Jade took a few steps forward, but not too many to panic the others, and watched as Etemon appeared from the ruins of the pyramid. The Dark Network that Datamon had revealed to Tai and Sora had come free, and that was what was sucking everything in. The Network had also sucked in Etemon, but instead of destroying him all it did was enhance his power. She groaned as the darkness washed over them, but remained standing as she gritted her teeth to ignore it.

"Alright! Now let me see a show of hands! How many of you actually missed me?!" Etemon asked them as he spotted them in the distance.

"What's with this guy?" Tai asked in disbelief. "He just won't die!"

"I told you I'd come back and take my revenge on you!" Etemon crowed. "You didn't believe me, did you?"

Birdramon and Kabuterimon flew up into the air and attacked Etemon with everything they had. Jade cried out in despair as the attack did absolutely nothing to Etemon, in fact, the monkey just laughed and baited them even more.

"Hey, that was pretty good. I give it a 9.6." Etemon stared down at them and his jovial act ended as he turned cruel. "Now then, you ready for a fast ball?"

The first attack missed the two flying digimon because they dodged at the last minute, the second destroyed the sphinx, but the third was aimed for Jade. Jade stared up at the ball in horror and lifted her hands as if to shield herself. Her eyes closed and she flinched, but nothing hit her. She looked up as she heard the others scream, and her scream joined theirs immediately.

"TAI!"

Tai had leaped in front of Jade before she was hit, so instead of a hole appearing in her body, there was a hole in his. He fell backwards like a puppet who's strings had been cut. Jade stared in horror, tears in her eyes, before she leapt forward and caught Tai's head before he hit the ground. Blood pooled on the ground, but Tai was still alive. She cried even as the others crowded around them. The digimon leaped forward to attack, but all sound but the harsh pant of Tai's breath had been muted.

"Why would you do that?" she sobbed.

"I…promise that I'd…protect you," Tai told her, a trickle of blood escaping from his mouth. "I have…failed…so many times…but I…couldn't this time."

"But why?" Jade demanded of him, even as Joe ordered him to stop talking. He was pressing down on Tai's stomach to attempt to stop the flow of blood.

"You are…important…to me," Tai whispered as his eyes started to close. He blinked them open and rested his palm against Jade's cheek. "I hurt you…once…and I have…regretted it…since. I…promised…that…I'd…keep…you…safe…"

His voice trailed off at the end and his hand fell from where he had rested it on her cheek. Jade screamed. Her scream of denial and pain and loss had everyone recoil. Tears were running down the other's cheeks, and Greymon's own scream was the only one that came close to surpassing Jade's own pain. Her body flashed and flames covered her completely. Wings of fire burst from her back and her hair lightened. Her clothing changed and she grew in height. The flames never stopped, but instead of covering her whole body they gathered in her hands.

Phoenixmon had appeared again, and if any of the children had been watching they would have seen Etemon recoil in horror as he realized that Jade had told him the truth earlier. But they didn't, as all their attention was on Phoenixmon as she dropped the ball of flames into the hole in Tai's stomach. She pressed down and a wave of energy blasted outwards from her. Tears fell from her eyes, landing on Tai's face, and he gasped.

Tai's eyes shot open as the gasp escaped him. His body arched and his hands grabbed onto Phoenixmon's where they still rested on his stomach. He cried out, but when Phoenixmon pulled back it was to reveal that the injury Tai had sustained was gone. More tears were shed from the digidestined, but this time they were tears of joy. Sora and Joe pulled Tai into a hug first, and Phoenixmon flew up into the air so that she was level with Etemon.

"Phoenixmon!" Tai cried as he stood up. He wobbled slightly before his energy returned. "Let me!"

Phoenixmon remained hovering, but she flew back towards the group so that Tai would know she would let him attack first. She knew that she wouldn't be able to stay long, she had known that from the second she had transformed, already she could sense her partner rushing towards her.

"Greymon!" Tai called up to him. "Are you ready?"

"I'm right behind you Tai!" Greymon told him. "For now and always!"

Tai nodded up to him and started to run forward. The others called out for him, but when Phoenixmon landed in front of them with staff raised towards Etemon, they stopped. The Dark Network was getting stronger, and as much as Phoenixmon hated to do it she put a shield around the digidestined and their digimon who were behind her. Tai and Greymon were on their own.

"No! Tai, you don't stand a chance!" Mimi cried. She tried to run forward but Joe held her back.

"Phoenixmon! Jade! Please don't let him go!" Sora begged. "We almost just lost him."

"He will not die." Phoenixmon promised.

Charging towards Etemon, like a knight going into battle, was Tai. In his hands were his digivice, and his glowing crest. His courage, his bravery, and his belief in himself had activated his crest, and the power it held. His fear and his hate were pushed to the side, those emotions wouldn't help him now, and it was only his desire to protect the others that had him running. He had taken that blast for Jade because he knew that if he didn't, she would have died. It may have been reckless, it may have been stupid, but…he loved her and didn't want her to get hurt.

It wasn't a romantic love, they were both too young for that, but the deep affection that he had for her couldn't be called anything else. He would fight, for her.

Etemon threw another ball of dark energy and knocked Greymon back. Tai looked back to his partner and promised that he wouldn't leave him alone. It was that declaration that finally brought the crest to full power.

"Tai! Your courage is giving me even greater strength!" Greymon called from behind him. "Now I can digivolve!"

Light exploded out of Greymon as the crest and the digivice lit up in Tai's hands. He stopped running so that he could look back, and as Greymon changed he spotted Phoenixmon protecting the others, and allowing him to do what he needed to do. He looked into her green eyes, and a connection of understanding rushed through the both of them.

"Greymon digivolve to – Metalgreymon!"

Metalgreymon was larger than Greymon, with metal armor covering his left arm, chest, and head. At the back of his head was a gathering of red hair and from his back sprouted wing-like appendages. Though given their size, the others would have been surprised if Metalgreymon could fly at all. He just looked like one giant weapon.

"Destroy him Metalgreymon!" Tai ordered. "He is everyone's enemy! We have to protect them!"

Metalgreymon charged towards Etemon, cutting down his attacks as if they were nothing more than harmless bubbles. He head-butted the cable-ball and it looked like they would win, finally. Phoenixmon intensified her shield, fighting against the forces that wanted the children behind her. She wouldn't let that happen.

Ahead of them, Tai dropped to the ground in order to make it harder for him to be sucked in. Metalgreymon began to glow, and with one blast of his _Giga Blaster_, the cable-ball became a dimensional tear. Phoenixmon actually cried out in horror, but she couldn't go after Tai without leaving the others undefended.

Etemon was the first to be sucked into the swirling vortex, but Tai and Metalgreymon were next. They went screaming, and Phoenixmon pushed out with her power to try and stop them.

_I'll find a way back._ Tai promised in her mind.

_You'd better, Protector._ Phoenixmon told him in his mind. _You are still needed…by all of us._

And then he was gone. The wind dropped so suddenly that Phoenixmon staggered from the lack of force. She knew that Tai and Agumon would be back, but she didn't know when. She didn't even know what world they had ended up in. Her transformation dropped and she shrunk so that she looked like Jade again. She collapsed to her knees and wrapped her arms around her body.

And all she could do was cry.

* * *

**I have decided that I'm going to try to answer any questions that you guys ask me in your reviews. I hate to admit it but I am very lax when it comes to replying to every review. So this way I'll be able to answer you if the answer is not in the chapter I have just revealed. As of this moment I have 206 reviews, pushing this story to the most reviewed digimon/harry potter story. Thanks a bunch everyone!**

**Special thanks go to Okami Princess and lozzy161 for reading over this chapter and betaing it for me!**

**Reviewers:**

**Orez Lanrete: Yes, I have every intention of taking this story through season 2.**

**Liedral: Good guess. You are right, but it will be a few more chapters before I officially reveal it. At the moment, chapter 16 is when it will happen.**

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 15: The Power of Truth**_


	15. The Power of Truth

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. No one knows where they ended up, and no one is sure about what to do._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 15: The Power of Truth

* * *

It didn't take Jade long to realize that she couldn't stay with the digidestined anymore. She could hear their silent condemnation for letting Tai fight on his own without them, and even though Joe had held her when she cried, she knew that on some level he also blamed her. It hurt, but she didn't blame them as she also blamed herself. Tai had almost died in her arms before she saved his life, but that didn't mean that he was completely recovered. The others were afraid, and maybe having Tai around would have helped them.

But with Etemon destroyed, and taking his Dark Network with him, Jade could sense Tom a lot clearer. She waited until the others had settled down to rest for the night, before standing with the intention to leave. She got maybe ten meters before Gabumon noticed her departure.

"Jade," he hissed. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Gabumon," Jade murmured. She turned back to the digimon, noticing that the other digimon were conscious but the humans weren't.

"Don't you like us anymore?" Gomamon asked, his eyes tearing up.

"The others will understand in time why you protected us and not Tai," Biyomon added.

"Why _did_ I protect you and not them?" Jade asked her, kneeling on the ground. Tokomon jumped into her arms and nuzzled her face sympathetically.

"Because you trusted that Tai knew what he was doing," Gabumon continued, walking up to her so that all the digimon were surrounding her. "We all did."

"He nearly died," Jade sobbed, cuddling Tokomon close to her. "And I just let him go off on his own. And now he's…he's…"

"He's not dead," Palmon whispered. "We don't know where he is, and we can't really feel Agumon anymore, but we know that he's alive."

"He's not in the Digital World," Jade explained. "But I don't know what world he was thrown into. He might be able to return if he's in the Dream World and maybe the Human World if he works his digivice properly. But he might never return if he's in the Shadow World, and the Prison World is impossible to escape from."

"He'll be back," Biyomon reassured her. "We digimon can't be separated for long."

"You never answered my question earlier," Gabumon pointed out. "Where are you going?"

"To find my partner before he gets here," Jade whispered. Her eyes looked to the horizon as she searched for what she could sense but not see. "He'll kill you all before I have a chance to explain anything. I have to go find him before he finds you."

"When will you be back?" Tokomon asked sadly.

"I don't know," Jade told him. There was a flash of light in the distance, and all conscious turned to look at it in fear. Jade set Tokomon down and before any of the digimon could stop she took off at a run. They called out after her, and she was sure that the humans had woken up at the noise, but she didn't care. She just kept running.

"Jade?! Come back!" Joe called as soon as he saw that Jade was running off. The other children echoed him, but there was nothing that could stop Jade now. She transformed into Phoenixmon and flew up into the sky faster than they had seen her fly before…and crashed into another digimon with enough forced that the digidestined and their digimon felt the shockwave. But by the time they figured out what the shockwave was, Phoenixmon and her assailant were gone.

* * *

Phoenixmon grabbed a hold of her attacker and forcefully pushed him to another part of the Digital World far away from the digidestined, digimon and darkness. It was a neutral area that Phoenixmon had discovered when she was flying with Lucemon. It was known as the Wasteland, and its name pretty much summed up everything about it. Nothing lived in the Wasteland, it was just dust, rocks and bones. It was located to the far north, not quite to the icecaps, but just before. It was cold, but there wasn't any snow.

The two digimon flew apart as soon as they were above the Wasteland, and they stared at each other without making a sound.

Her opponent was Horcruxmon, of that there wasn't a single doubt in her mind. His wings were black, his tattered clothing of the darkest cloth, and his staff was menacing in its silver glory. His skin was as white as ash, and dark circles hung from his eyes. He looked thin, unhealthily thin, and his red eyes were bloodshot and angry. He, clearly, hadn't been doing well.

With a shout of anger Horcruxmon lunged forward and swung his staff, and if Phoenixmon hadn't moved she would have been cut clean in half. She flew up and struck out with her own staff to hit him across the back of his head. Her strike was blocked and from Horcruxmon's free hand came a blast of dark energy. Fire met the blast and soon light and shadow were colliding across the sky. Had anyone been below them they would have been both mesmerised and terrified at the same time. The aerial ballet was captivating, but each attack was lethal and had the potential to end one's life.

The Lord of Darkness, once upon a time, was unmatched in battle. His cool head and brilliant tactical strategies had endeared him to most of the dark digimon. There had only been a few who disliked the change in ruler, but that was because Lucemon had allowed them to do whatever they wanted in the Shadow World. The so-called Dark Masters, recognizing Horcruxmon's association with Phoenixmon as a weakness, had lashed out at her and the world she governed over. But their success in ridding the world of her had backfired.

He may have hatched in the Digital World, and he may have the ability to digivolve just like any other digimon, but Horcruxmon was not a true digimon. He was a dark creature, and not a whole one. He had been human once, a wizard, and to gain immortality he had shattered his soul into seven pieces. As such, he wasn't completely sane unless he was with Jade. She was the only thing that could keep him grounded, and when she left, he slowly spiraled into insanity.

This meant that while he may have been a match for Phoenixmon's superior power, he lacked the much needed ability to strategize that would have allowed him to defeat her. His insanity was doing more damage than Lucemon had ever achieved, but no one had ever been able to stand up to him and rein in his destruction.

Until now.

Phoenixmon gathered her energy for her most powerful attack, and with a final look of sadness at her partner, she blasted him with her flames and sent him crashing him to the ground. He lay still, and Phoenixmon slowly spiralled down so that she was standing in front of him. As she looked into his glazed red eyes, she realized that despite her close presence now, he still didn't recognize her, not totally. So she pulled off the purple bell from her ankle and threw it at him. It landed on his chest.

The purple bell was Devimon, all his dark energy trapped in an unbreakable casing, but it was also a part of Phoenixmon. The outer casing of the bell was a part of her, and she hoped that it would be enough to ground him until he was no longer trying to kill her. The effect was almost immediate, the hint of insanity in his eyes faded as his hand held the bell in a white knuckled grip.

"It's been a long time, my brother," Phoenixmon said eventually. Her voice echoed over the plains, the musical tinge to it making Horcruxmon flinch.

"Master," he growled, longing in his voice. "Is it really you?"

"It is me," she promised. "My memory was in tatters when I was sent back to the Human World, and it's only recently that Piximon helped me to remember everything. You've certainly scared them enough that everyone I've met has warned me to stay away from you."

"You were gone!" Horcruxmon screamed as he sat up. "It was like a part of me had died! And there was no one who would talk to me, or help me! I needed you!"

"So you destroyed part of File Island, flooded this world with the darkness of the Shadow World, and ensured that all digimon feared you?"

"If they feared me they wouldn't get too close!" Horcruxmon shouted at her. "If they didn't get close, I wouldn't care about them! If I didn't care I wouldn't get hurt! Again!"

"Gennai knew what you meant to me," Phoenixmon told him. "Did you go to him?"

"Like Gennai would help me," Horcruxmon scoffed. He looked at the bell in his hand and his expression became curious. "Who is this?"

"Devimon," she explained. "I figured you could use his energy or make him one of your minions or something, before I remembered everything. Now I think that if you hold onto it, you will be able to keep your mind sane."

"I have no more need of minions," Horcruxmon said as he conjured a chain to attach the bell to. It slipped around his neck. "I had one and he betrayed me."

"Who?"

"Myotismon," he stated in anger. "He found me when I was destroying some island in the middle of nowhere and pulled me back to the Shadow World. He helped me control everything, but over the centuries it just got harder. I think I destroyed the Shadow World, I haven't been there for a while."

"Where did Myotismon go?"

"He's set up his own kingdom in the Digital World, that's the last I heard of him," Horcruxmon explained. "I have no idea what he's doing now, but he betrayed me so he deserves to die. I'll use his data-stream to rebuild my desert!"

"Tell me, from the beginning," Phoenixmon ordered as she sat opposite him.

"Well, I guess I was a bit distraught at the beginning," Horcruxmon began. "I remember holding you as your body broke apart into data particles…

_It was like the world had gone silent as he banished Piedmon back to the Shadow World where he would be dealt with later. His scythe rested in hand and at every sudden movement he spun to look at it with an angry red glare. And then one sound penetrated through his anger, leaving fear in its wake. The pain-filled groan had him spinning and dropping his scythe in order to lift the Angel of Truth into his arms. Blood had stained her once gold dress red, and the dagger that was draining her power still rested in her chest._

"_It's…too late…for me…brother," she whispered painfully._

"_Never," he told her furiously. "Don't talk like that! You will be fine! We'll get that dagger out of you, and then you're healing abilities will save you, and we can make sure that the so-called Dark Masters are confined for eternity in the Prison World."_

"_The dagger…stops…me…from healing," she whispered as blood dripped from her mouth. "I will…not…survive."_

"_You have to! I don't know what to do without you!"_

"_I…can make…it…back to…my World."_

"_But-!"_

"_Please…Tom," she coughed, and the shudder went through her whole body. "I…don't…have…much…time…left."_

"_Master?!" Tom begged. "Please, stay with me?"_

"_I…will…be…back…one…day," she promised. "…Live…for…me?"_

"_Master?" Tom begged again. Tears slipped down his cheeks from under his cloak. "I will! I will make you proud!"_

"_You…already…have," the angel whispered. She smiled, and then she burst into data fragments. Tom stared at his empty hands in horror, his body began to shake, and then he screamed out all his anger and disbelief. He gathered his power into his hands and blasted the ground below him. Dirt, dust and rock shot into the air and what was left was a giant crater. He could sense the digimon around him, feel their disbelief as their ruler died in front of them, and see their anger and hate directed at him for not saving her. He turned and flew away as fast as he could. He wanted to avoid their glares._

_He didn't stop flying for hours. Every few minutes he would throw a ball of energy at the water far below him, causing fountains of water to shoot up into the sky. He finally spotted a small island in the distance, and he shot towards it desperately. He really hoped that there were no digimon on the island as he had every intention of destroying it._

_He stayed there for a really long time. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The land he stood upon was no longer green and thriving, it was dead. His rage had killed the land and made it uninhabitable, and now that his rage had run its course all he could do was lie on the ground in his Rookie form and stare at the death without seeing it. It wasn't until a pair of shoes appeared in his line of vision did he move at all._

"_My Lord, what have you done to yourself?" a voice asked. Tom looked up at one of the dark digimon he had created shortly after Lucemon was defeated. Running the Shadow World on his own had been hard, so he had created a helper who would look after everything while he was with his Master._

"_Myotismon," Tom identified, before sighing and letting his gaze lose focus again. "What are you doing here?"_

"_You have been gone for a year, My Lord," Myotismon told him. He leant down and lifted the kitten into his arms. "The dark creatures are getting antsy in your absence. The Dark Masters have escaped from us and are in hiding while they regain the strength that you stole from them. And I have been hearing rumours about what happened to the Lady Sovereign, already I can feel the light becoming dimmer here."_

"_She had no successor," Tom told him, hanging limp in his arms. "It's up to the digidestined to keep this world going now. Take me back to the Shadow World. I have some revenge to plot."_

_Myotismon did as he was ordered. But Tom never got better. The best that had happened was that he had stopped moping and had returned to where he was strongest, but in time even that became awful. Tom's desire for revenge, and his hatred for the Dark Masters, drove him insane. Little by little the Shadow World was destroyed._

_First it was the deserts, the areas where there was little life. Then the mountains disappeared, and the islands that were scattered throughout the ocean disappeared too. Entire landmasses faded into nothing, and space became hard to find. The dark digimon escaped to the Digital World where there was a chance that they would be able to live for a little longer, and without the Sovereign to preserve the light, the darkness was thick enough that they could live comfortably. The dark creatures that hid in the Shadow World escaped to the Magical World where their existence could be explained away, though once they arrived they hid in the dark forests and oceans until a time they would be able to go home._

_Through it all, through every plan and every attack, Myotismon was right by Tom's side. At the beginning he had tried to maintain the Shadow World, but during one of Tom's raids he was exposed to a virus. This virus attacked his mind slowly, so slowly that no one noticed that something was wrong until it was too late. For centuries the virus whispered into Myotismon's mind, about how unstable Tom had gotten, and how he would be a much better ruler. In time, Myotismon agreed, but the Shadow World was now so small that all it had left was an ocean, the forest and one lonely mountain. So instead he targeted the last thing that Tom had any semblance of affection for._

_The Digital World._

_He would rule it, and once it was under his control, he would move on to the Human World. From there it would be a simple step to take the Magical World, the Dream World, and all his prisoners would be thrust into the Prison World where they would never be heard from again. He broke away from Tom, and the Lord of Darkness saw his desertion as a betrayal. He had no one he could trust now._

_He destroyed the mountain in the Shadow World before sitting on the beach in his Champion form and plotting the demise of every digimon, dark creature, magician and human. None would escape his rage._

_During his plotting, he felt something, a spark of warmth in his mind that he hadn't felt in centuries. It was so brief, so shocking, that he felt he needed to destroy it instantly. It was a threat to him, it had to be. But where was it? Tom opened a portal to the Digital World where he could feel its echo. He flew towards it, over the land and the ocean. In the distance was an island and when he landed he shivered. This place was a bad place and deserved to be destroyed as well._

"_Well, if it isn't the Little Princess' most devoted protector?"_

_Tom spun and stared at the digimon who had spoken. He recognized Andromon, and he had fond memories of him, even if he didn't like him. Andromon looked almost as shocked as he was that he was there, but Tom still had a mission that he had to finish._

"_We thought that you had died," Andromon continued. "With the strength of the darkness here we knew that something had happened in the Dark World."_

"_Shadow World," Tom hissed his correction. His world was dark, but the proper name was Shadow World._

"_Gennai warned us that you might be here soon," Andromon said, ignoring the correction. "I expected you earlier, as soon as I recognized Her I knew you wouldn't be far away, but I guess Devimon's dark shield hid Her from you just as he had hidden Her from Gennai. He hadn't even known of her arrival until the digidestined spoke of her."_

"_Who is Her?" Tom demanded. He had no idea who Devimon was, nor did he care. No digimon was worth his time or attention unless they had something worthwhile to give him. "What are you babbling about Tin Can?"_

"_You don't remember Her?" Andromon asked in shock. "But surely…you and she were inseparable! You never let her out of your sight because you were afraid that the other digimon would take her away from you. You always called her Master."_

"_I am my own Master!" Tom snapped._

"_The only reason you live was because our Sovereign spared you," Andromon growled, his tone cold and threatening. "She saw something in you that needed to be protected, and now you don't even have the decency to remember her?! If Jade could remember you she would be so disappointed in you!"_

My name's Jade, what's yours?

_The childish voice and laughter echoed through his mind before he could block it. It made his heart hurt and he refused to let it impair his judgement. He glared one more time at Andromon before flying up into the sky. It was obvious that something had happened on this island, the very island that held a bad memory for him. He tried to remember what that memory was, but the agony that the thought created was enough to convince him that he didn't need to see the memory._

_The spark was gone now; it was only an echo on this island. Very clearly, the spark had run away before he could catch it. Angry now, he flew north. The spark would make its appearance again soon,and when it did, he would destroy it!_

_Weeks passed before he felt it again. It was to the west, and it was powerful. The light behind the spark made it look like an inferno to his senses, and he was doubly prepared to douse it before it could grow bigger. He was over the desert now, it was getting closer. It was almost within his grasp! Closer, closer, it was almost within his grasp…_

_CRASH!_

"…and then we fought here. This bell hitting me, and the little ring that it made, it was like the veil had been lifted from my eyes, and all of a sudden I remembered you."

Phoenixmon remained silent as he finished his tale. Tom's insanity was what stood out to her most of all, as well as the fact that he had regained some of his sanity by holding onto the purple bell that she had thrown at him. Maybe if he had something of hers that contained her power, he would be able to keep his mind when they were apart for long periods of time. That would be important because she couldn't see the digidestined leaving without her, despite their almost overwhelming desire to go home.

"How aware are you of the situation in the Digital World?" she asked him eventually.

"Myotismon has his own kingdom to the west of Server," Tom explained slowly. "I haven't checked up on him in a few centuries though, so that's probably changed. The Dark Masters were in hiding in the south, but whenever they sensed me coming they would hide and continue building up their armies. Minor 'Dark Lords' have tried to make their mark on the Digital World, though the digimon in general have kept them from screwing everything up."

"Do the names Etemon and Devimon ring a bell inside that brain of yours?"

"Devimon, yes, that useless digimon tried to take over Myotismon's kingdom. The Bakemon are notorious gossips and I listened to their inane chatter to find my enemies. He was banished to some island in the middle of nowhere where he couldn't hurt anyone."

"He was banished to File Island where he terrorized the young digimon," Phoenixmon told him with a frown. "You know what File Island meant to me."

"…File Island," Tom breathed in sudden understanding. "That's why when I got there Andromon was only surprised that it had taken me that long to get there. Stupid Tin Can, at the very least he told me that you had gone but not where.

"And Etemon?"

"Etemon has been a minor power in the Digital World for a century or so. He had a hard time taking over, so when he found out about the crests somehow, I guess he decided to gather them to gather more power. He's been pretty quiet among the gossipers."

"He almost killed the digidestined," Phoenixmon scolded him. "Have you paid any attention to those under your control and protection?"

"No," came the reluctant reply. "I just felt so lost without you and not even Lucemon's teachings could keep me grounded. I can't rule without you. I thought that I could, but it was like there was a part of me that was missing and as they years went by it got harder and harder to think straight. It's only now I feel like I'm been in control of my mind."

"Are you going to pay attention now?"

"Are you going to leave again?"

"I would rather stay here for the rest of eternity," Phoenixmon told him honestly. "But I am human as well. I need to go back. Gennai told us both that I have a destiny there, just like we have one here."

"So you're going to leave me again?" Horcruxmon looked so depressed that Phoenixmon pulled him into a hug without a thought. He clung to her like a child would cling to his mother, even though he was taller than her.

"Let's go to the Shadow World," she whispered in his ear. "We can see what damage you've done that can be fixed, and then maybe we can go looking for Gennai. I'll introduce you to the digidestined when we come across them, and if we stumble across Myotismon I can have a talk with him if you want."

"Okay," Horcruxmon mumbled. He suddenly started to glow as he de-digivolved and soon Phoenixmon was holding a black kitten. She cooed, a brilliant smile lighting up her face, and she flew up into the air. With her staff she opened a portal to the Shadow World and moments later they were gone from the Digital World.

The Shadow World was a mess, and Phoenixmon couldn't help but gasp in horror. She had been to the Shadow World a few times when she was younger, and she hadn't liked it because it was so dark. But now, all that was left of the Shadow World was a forest and the ocean. She hovered above the forest, staring at the end of the world, literally, so she looked down at Tomomon in her arms.

"I guess I was a little distraught," Tomomon muttered as he, too, looked at the diminished world.

"So we'll spend some time fixing it," Phoenixmon told him. "We can make the forest habitable in the next few weeks, then we'll spend some time in the Digital World until I go back to the Human World, and while I'm there you can work on re-creating the borders of the Shadow World."

"How long will you be?"

"It depends on how much the timeline is out of sync," Phoenixmon told him as she flew down to land on the beach. "A few years at least, if I'm back for a few days in the Human World. One day in the Human World, I think, is nine years here."

"I can last a few years without you," Tomomon allowed reluctantly. "But only if you promise that you won't stay away for too long this time, and you leave me with this bell, it helps."

"I can promise that," Phoenixmon said with a smile. "Now let's get to work!"

* * *

Tai stared at the landscape around him that was instantly familiar and foreign. If he had to name where he was, he would have to say that he was back home, alone. The others hadn't come with him, but he did have his digimon partner who was now, once again, a Koromon. He felt light-headed, there were so many people around him, and he had no idea what he was doing.

"Where are we Tai?" Koromon asked curiously.

"My…home," Tai told him in shock. "We must have opened a dimensional rift from the Digital World to this world. But why was it only us that came through? Where are the others?"

"Um, Tai, why is everyone looking at us?" Koromon asked, now nervous as he noticed that there were a lot of humans staring in their direction. His eyes traveled up to look at Tai, and he thought he understood. "Tai, your shirt has a hole in it."

Tai looked down suddenly and saw something that was definitely not normal-looking. His shirt had a hole where Etemon had blasted him, but there was also blood soaking into the edges. The skin underneath was only faintly scarred, like the wound had happened years ago instead of minutes. Children, typically, didn't run around with blood on their clothes, and certainly not in the quantity that he had on his shirt. He picked up Koromon for two reasons, one was to ensure he wouldn't get trampled, and the second was to hide his chest from the concerned eyes of the general populace.

He started to run into the protection of the trees, before looking around and deciding that if he didn't want to draw unwanted looks into his direction, he would need to change his shirt. That meant that he would need to go home. The thought brought a small smile to his face, and he wondered how long he had been gone for. He vaguely recalled Gennai saying that the timeline was out of sync, but, admittedly, at the time he had been concentrating more on not throwing up than listening to him. But then there was the discrepancy with Jade. She had been six when she gone to the Digital World, but according to the digimon she had been gone for hundreds, if not thousands of years. But it was only three years…

Maybe that meant that no time had passed and at that very moment he, and the others, were being sucked into the Digital World back at camp? But if it was a dimensional rift, was he back on the same day, or in the future, or even in the past? His thoughts started to confuse him and he decided that the best thing he could do was go home, change and maybe sleep off his headache, and deal with everything as it occurred.

"What are we going to do Tai?" Koromon asked as soon as he noticed the change in Tai's pace. He knew that his partner had come up with a plan of action and was now working on enacting it.

"We're going to go to my house," Tai said softly. "I need to change my shirt before some well-meaning police officer comes to find out if I've been in a fight or to question me about who died."

"Died?"

"The blood on my shirt Koromon," Tai explained gently. "Anyone who looks at it will know that someone lost a lot of blood, and best case scenario needs to go to the hospital. Worst case, someone died."

"But, you're fine," Koromon told him. "Aren't you?"

"Nothing that a bit of sleep won't cure," he reassured him. Then his voice changed tone. "I wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for Phoenixmon, and I'm pretty sure that for a moment there I actually died."

Koromon went really pale, and Tai stopped walking so that he could check on his partner. He hugged him close and went on to explain why he was saying this.

"Koromon, I know that the Digital World is a dangerous place, and the digimon that we fight against aren't all benign. But it hadn't actually hit me that if we died there, we wouldn't be reborn like you digimon would be. The only reason that Jade survived when she was younger was because she was half-digimon. At least, that's what _she_ told me."

"Who's 'she'?" Koromon asked.

"I don't know her name," Tai explained as he continued to walk. "She was waiting for me, when I closed my eyes, and she said that it wasn't my time yet. She told me that I needed to be strong, and that the true danger that we face, it's not in the Digital World. There is something in this world that is growing in strength, and if allowed to grow it will destroy this world, and all worlds attached to it."

"So our enemy isn't a digimon?"

"No, I think our final enemy will be human."

Tai didn't say another word as he continued to walk home. The girl he had seen was familiar to him. At first he thought that it had been Jade all grown up, except for the fact that the older girl had red hair instead of dark brown. He had no idea who she was; she could have been Jade from the future trapped in the realm of the dead and who had decided to meddle with mortal lives. She could also be a relative of Jade's, maybe her mother? What was her mother's name? Tai didn't think that Jade had ever told him, but he knew that he had heard it before. Had Sora told him?

"Wow, is that your house?" Koromon asked as soon as Tai stopped outside his apartment complex. Tai looked up and the familiar building and smiled.

"It's an apartment building," he explained. "Lots of families live there. I live on the thirteenth floor, apartment number 6."

Koromon continued to gape at the building, but he didn't say anything more as they moved. Tai was silent as they traveled in the elevator, and he was hoping that he didn't run into any of his neighbors. His attire meant that they would worry, and then they would talk to his parents, and then there was a chance that they would blame him for getting into trouble.

They made it to the thirteenth floor without seeing anyone, but it wasn't until they got up to the top that Tai realized he didn't have a key to get in. Inwardly he cursed, but he still reached out to try the handle. To his immense surprise the door opened at his touch. It was unlocked. Slightly apprehensive now, Tai walked inside and shut the door behind him, locking it securely. It wasn't that he didn't trust his neighbors, but leaving the door unlocked was like asking to be robbed.

Three sets of shoes were lined up neatly in front of him: his mother's, his father's and Kari's. They were all home? While he was at camp, his parents were supposed to be visiting his grandparents, but because Kari was sick did that mean they cancelled their trip? He called out a greeting to see if anyone would answer him.

"Maybe they're out?" Koromon suggested when no one responded.

"I wonder where they went?" Tai mused aloud.

"Maybe they went to the Digital World," Koromon told him.

"That's not funny!"

He slid his shoes and gloves off and walked to the fridge. He remembered that there were cans of drinks that he could drink, but when he opened the fridge there was only one left. He took a couple of mouthfuls of the soda before handing the can over to Koromon to finish. As he watched the digimon drink, he decided that it would be better if he slept before having fizzy drinks. The fridge door shut and he stared at the calendar without his expression changing.

July 31.

He'd gone back in time? He currently existed in two places at the same time. Was he still at camp, or was he still playing with Jade in the tree? His eyes traveled to the clock above the television in the lounge room. According to the clock, it was only nine in the morning. If he remembered correctly, it had been around twelve o'clock when it had started to snow. So for the next three hours he would exist at the same time as his other self.

Tai looked at his left arm without expression. He remembered Datamon crushing it, but when Phoenixmon had done, whatever she did, it hadn't felt like that anymore. It was, at worst, still broken, or at best bruised. He could still move his fingers, and he determined that the arm was probably fractured. He would need to keep it still so that it could heal.

"Hey, Tai?"

"Yeah Koromon?"

"I'm hungry."

Tai smiled and dropped his hands to his side. Koromon had just digivolved to the Ultimate level, so it was no wonder that he was hungry. He was just surprised that it had taken the little digimon this long to say anything. He was about to open the fridge again to make something, when a soft sigh echoed from his bedroom. The two of them turned to look at who made the sound, and Tai's eyes widened as his little sister opened the door.

"Hi Tai," she said.

"Kari?" Tai stated in shock. "Are mum and dad here?"

"They went to visit grandma," Kari told him with a puzzled frown. "Remember?"

"And they left you here alone?"

"I'm a big girl," Kari told him seriously. "Hi Koromon."

"How did you know his name?" Tai asked her.

"Maybe she knows my name," Koromon began, "because your sister is a lot smarter than you."

Kari laughed and walked into the room as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Tai's eyes widened as he realized what Kari would see and think if she saw his shirt. He grabbed Koromon and held him across his chest before walking out from behind the kitchen bench. He needed to get into his bedroom, or the bathroom, without Kari seeing the shirt.

"I'm going to change out of these clothes," Tai told her quickly. "When I'm changed I'll make us something to eat."

"But you never cook," Kari told him in surprise.

"I learnt from Matt when we went to the Digital World."

"Where?"

"I'll tell you all about it, after I've changed. Deal?"

Kari nodded and a happy smile lit up her face. Tai grinned at her before sliding into the bedroom and shutting the door. Koromon looked at him in confusion, but Tai didn't really explain as he sat him down on his bed. Koromon watched in silence as Tai stripped out of his bloodied shirt and began to hunt around for something cleaner to wear.

"Does it hurt?" Koromon asked as he spotted the faint scarring on Tai's front.

"Not anymore."

"And your arm?"

"Twinges a little," Tai admitted as he looked at it. "It's a lot better than it should be though."

"And are human ribs supposed to look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Are they supposed to stick out like yours are?"

"We haven't always had a lot to eat Koromon."

"But-"

"Koromon," Tai interrupted. "We rely on you and the other digimon to keep us safe, and you need energy to do that. The best way you can get energy is by eating."

"So you give me more food than what you need?" Koromon sounded distressed, and Tai recognized that and tried to reassure his partner.

"I know that the others call me their leader, and Jade has told me often that everyone would fall apart without me, and that puts a lot of pressure on me. I need to make sure that everyone has enough energy, and enough food. Jade has been starved all her life, and just because she's used to it doesn't mean it's alright for her to starve herself now. TK is small and needs energy to keep up with us. The digimon are the only ones who stand between us and death, so they need food to keep going."

"And you are our leader and you can't be starving yourself."

"I'm not starving myself," Tai told him as he started to rummage around in his cupboard. "I'm just…waiting until there's enough food for everyone before I stuff my face."

Koromon nodded, even though it distressed him that he hadn't noticed his partner giving away his food so that others would be able to have more energy. He vowed to watch what Tai ate closer in the future, before asking another question that had been bugging him.

"Why didn't you want Kari to see your shirt?"

"She's my little sister," Tai tried to explain. "I want to protect her from the bad things in the world, so what she doesn't know about what I've been through, won't bother her."

"What are you going to tell her?"

"Everything aside from any injuries that we may have sustained."

"May have?" Koromon asked him. "Don't you want your sister to know that you've been hurt, still are hurt?"

"She'll just worry," Tai told him as he slid an old blue shirt over his head. "And when she worries, she makes herself sick, and then she stresses out, and it's not healthy for her. It's better if she just doesn't know."

"If you're sure."

"I am," Tai promised. "Now, I'll make us something to eat, and when we're eating I'll tell Kari about the Digital World. I also need to sleep, I'm exhausted."

Koromon nodded his understanding, if he didn't agree with the human. Tai lifted him into the air again and carried him back out to the kitchen where Kari had pulled up one of the bar stools so that she could sit at the kitchen bench and watch him.

As he cooked eggs for them, he talked about how he and the others had been pulled away from the campground after the snow storm and dropped into the Digital World. He narrated their travels on File Island and their battle with Devimon, after editing the parts he didn't want to tell her about, and then he talked about how they met Whamon and their arrival in Server. He showed her his crest while they were eating, and he finished by describing how he and Metalgreymon had defeated Etemon, completely ignoring how he had almost died.

Kari was suitably impressed, and wanted to visit the Digital World as well. Tai showed her his digivice and told her about how it was the only thing that allowed him to enter the Digital World, though he had no idea how to get back. Kari was disappointed, and Tai didn't know what to say to make her feel better. He was now feeling more than a little dizzy, and he had managed to get through an entire omelette, but now he just wanted to go and lie down for a few hours.

Koromon realized after going through his omelette and Kari's leftovers, that he really needed to go to the bathroom before he made a mess all over the table. Kari took him to the toilet and waited outside the bathroom for him to finish, and Tai disappeared to the lounge room and collapsed on the couch. He was asleep before he could lay his head on the armrest.

"How embarrassing," Koromon muttered from the bathroom. "Why would you want to hang out with someone who's such a pig?"

"Because you're cute," Kari told him from outside the door.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Do you want to hear what happened to me at school?" Kari asked, changing the subject slightly. "We took a farm field trip and I tripped and fell into the pigpen. The kids were laughing at me, 'til Tai jumped in. Know what he did? He played in the mud with me like I had done it on purpose."

"Wow," Koromon uttered.

"Tai does bug me sometimes," Kari admitted. "But he is the coolest big brother in the world. And I know that something's bothering him. Do you know what it is?"

"He's probably worried about the others," Koromon told her, sweating slightly with nerves. "We did kind of leave them all unexpectedly. And Tai's very protective of all of them, especially Jade."

"Can you tell me about Jade?" Kari asked him. "Tai told me all about her from her letters before he went on camp, and I helped him to make a bracelet for her birthday."

"Jade's amazing," Koromon told her happily. "She started out as this shy little thing that was afraid of everything, but she always had something kind to say to us digimon. She thought the world of Tai and they were inseparable. When Devimon separated us, I know Tai was the most worried about Jade because she didn't have a digimon partner to protect her. But he fought to get her back and because of his determination we all made it back together."

"So he likes her?"

"Oh yeah," Koromon agreed. "He likes her a lot!"

Kari giggled a little before Koromon announced that he was finished. She helped him clean up and carried him out of the bathroom. She stopped when she saw that Tai had fallen asleep on the couch in the lounge room, and she sighed in concern. Koromon jumped from her arms to land gently on Tai's stomach, and as he was so out of it he didn't even flinch at the unexpected weight. Kari turned the television on and she and Koromon watched the news.

It was the same as usual since summer began. Freak weather phenomenon encircled the globe and while the news reporter spoke, not once did he mention the monsters on the screen as cameras showed the locations of the main discrepancies. Kari had stopped mentioning the monsters when her mother snapped at her, but she still saw them.

"That's Meramon," Koromon suddenly stated. "And that's Seadramon, and Frigimon, why are there digimon on the television screen Kari?"

"You can see them too?" Kari asked him in return. "They've been there for weeks now, but no one believed me. Mum yelled at me and told me that I wasn't allowed to stay up later than eight all summer."

At that moment the power went off and Tai's digivice went berserk. It started to flash brightly, an alarm started go off, and Tai woke up with a jump that was so abrupt that Koromon would have fallen to the ground if Tai and hadn't wrapped his arms around him. He pulled his digivice off his belt and looked at it in confusion, but while he was doing that Kari noticed something else that had changed.

"What's wrong with the computer Tai?" she asked. Tai looked up at the computer and walked over as he recognized a familiar red head.

"Izzy?"

"_Can you hear me?!_" Izzy asked, his voice cutting in and out from static. "_Danger! Tai?!_"

"Izzy?" Tai asked again as he grabbed the computer screen desperately. "I'm here!"

"_Tai! Wherever you may be, don't come back here!_"

"I can't just leave you there!" Tai yelled at him. "I have to come back! I could be your only chance!"

"_Digital monsters…total chaos! You're better off where you are! Don't come back!_"

"You know me better than that Izzy!" Tai called before the screen went blank. He stared at it blankly before calling out Izzy's name again. His digivice had gone silent and the power had turned back on, but inside Tai was panicking.

"They're in danger Koromon," he said as his hands let go of the computer screen. "We have to do something."

"What can we do?" Koromon asked him.

Tai didn't know. All he could do was stare at his digivice, thinking about what it could do. It could fight against the darkness in the Digital World, and it could help his friend to digivolve to the next level fairly easily, but what else could it do? They hadn't gone to the Digital World until they had the digivices in their hands, but there had to be more to it. Had Jade made it possible for them to go? What was the purpose of the digidestined? As Phoenixmon, Jade was powerful enough that she could defeat their opponents fairly easily, but she hadn't…why?

He felt so useless, standing there staring at a blank computer screen and his inactive digivice. He needed to be doing something, but what? He walked away from the computer and began to pace around the lounge room. Kari and Koromon watched him move in silence. Koromon knew that Tai was thinking, but Kari was just worried.

"Just relax Tai," she requested of him. "Have some watermelon. It'll cool you down."

Tai nodded and retreated to his bedroom. Kari cut up some watermelon for him and brought it into him before returning to sit with Koromon. Tai waited until she was gone before he pulled his ruined shirt from where he had stashed it. He couldn't let Kari or his parents see it, they would flip. He folded it up so that the tear wasn't visible and shoved it to the back of his cupboard. While he was there he stared at his clothes. He needed to get back to the Digital World, and he needed to take some stuff with him so that he could help.

Food? Clothes? Medical supplies?

"I could take some shoes for Jade," he whispered. He looked at Kari's shoes. Granted, he hadn't paid much attention to how small Jade's feet were, but he knew that they were small and she was close to the same size as Kari. Kari had an old pair of black sandals that she didn't wear anymore, and if Tai looped his belt through the sandals he could carry them at his waist until he found Jade. His gloves were shoved into his back pocket, and without Kari or Koromon noticing he slipped some aspirin into his pocket for future emergencies.

He sat down on his bed and held his left arm with his right. He needed to see the damage without anyone else around. Holding his breath, Tai pulled the black armband that stretched from wrist to elbow off his arm and stared at the black bruises in the shape of a hand. On his forearm were faded scars, but the white lines were fairly noticeable against the mix of pink, purple and black of his skin. His self-diagnosis said that his arm was fractured and that it would be healed in a few weeks if nothing else happened to it. He swallowed two aspirin to help with the pain and pulled the armband back on.

At that moment the phone rang and Tai darted out of the room just as Kari picked it up. He asked her who it was, but she didn't answer him and focused on the person on the other end of the line. When Tai heard her say that it was their mother on the other end, he desperately wanted to rip the receiver from her hand and listen to her talk, but he restrained himself. He had other things that he needed to focus on.

"Mum says that there's bed weather and will be home later than she and dad thought," Kari told him after she put the phone down.

"It's the digimon," Tai said with a nod. "Earth is in as much danger as the Digital World is. The dimensional rift is allowing the digimon to cross over and because of the timeline being out of sync both worlds are slowly crumbling."

"So what do we do?" Koromon asked him

"We need to find a way back."

"Are those my shoes?" Kari asked him.

"Yeah, you don't mind if Jade borrows them do you?"

Kari shook her head but was prevented from answering when the apartment started to shake around them. Tai pulled Kari to his side and pulled her out onto the balcony. He didn't think it was an earthquake, and he needed to know if the attack had been from a digimon.

"Oh no, Tyrannomon," he cried. "What's he trying to do?"

Tyrannomon shot a blast of fire at a building, and blowing a hole in it. Tai gaped in horror before rushing back into the house and pulling his shoes back on. Koromon jumped after him, and his distress was plain to see as he asked what was going on.

"Kari! Stay here where it's safe!" Tai ordered. "Koromon and I have to find that dimensional rift! We have to find a way back to the Digital World!"

As they ran they heard Kari call out to them, and while Tai knew that she didn't want them to go, he knew that they needed to. So he ran as fast as he could to get to the ground, and then he ran as fast as he could towards Tyrannomon. The dinosaur digimon hadn't moved since his attack, so when he faded away into nothing Tai stopped in disbelief.

"What happened?" he gasped out. "He's gone!"

An explosion to their right had them turning to see another digimon looming above them

"Drimogemon!" Koromon cried out. The two of them changed the direction of their charge to Drimogemon's location. However, just as they got close to him, he vanished.

"No way," Tai breathed. "The digimon are drifting back and forth through that dimensional rift! We have to find it and go through it before those monsters destroy both Earth and the Digital World! It'll take all of us working together to stop them! We've got to get back!"

"Even if we did, I can't help you," Koromon stated as he leaped from Tai's arms to the ground. "In spite of all I've eaten, I can't seem to digivolve. So I can't fight! I'd just get in the way."

"I need you Koromon," Tai told him sincerely. "We can't win unless we fight as a team. Don't you give up now!"

"Tai! Koromon! Wait for me! I want to go with you!" the two of them turned abruptly as Kari's voice reached them. Tai felt fear for his sister being outside while there were digimon terrorizing their home, and he ran to her to gather her in his arms.

"Kari, I told you not to leave home!" he told her. "You can't come with us. It's too dangerous!"

"Please, Tai! Oh please, please?" Kari begged. Koromon looked away from the siblings and noticed something across the street from them. He called out to Tai in alarm as he recognized Ogremon waiting to cross the street to where they were standing. Tai instantly pushed Kari o that she was hiding behind him, and he and Koromon stared in confusion at the green digimon who could have been a statue.

"Why don't the people notice him?" Koromon asked. "He's just standing there!"

"What's he waiting for?" Tai asked aloud. "Is he waiting for the light to change? Maybe if we wait, he'll disappear like the others!"

His hope wasn't meant to be, for as soon as the light changed to green, Ogremon shot across the road to where the three were still standing. Koromon leaped up and away at the last minute, and Tai threw himself over Kari to protect her from the rubble that Ogremon's attack had sent flying into the air.

"Are you alright?" he asked once the rubble stopped falling.

"Koromon?" Kari asked, looking around. Tai felt a twinge of hurt that his sister was more concerned about Koromon than for her brother, until he realized that Koromon was no longer on the sidewalk with them. He spun around on his knees frantically, looking to where his best friend had gone.

"He's up there!" Kari spotted, pointing to the apartment buildings opposite them. "He's trying to fight that monster single handed!"

Koromon was leading Ogremon on a merry chase up and away from the people, but Koromon was still an In-training level digimon and wouldn't be able to fight well against a Champion level digimon. His attacks didn't so much as cause Ogremon to blink. Tai could feel his heart sitting in his throat as the fear of losing his partner grew.

"Koromon! Digivolve!" Tai cried desperately.

"I can't do it unless you use the digivice!" Koromon called to him.

"I don't know how to use it!" Tai told him. "You'll have to use my energy like you did in the colosseum!"

"I don't know how I did that!"

Tai thought back, clutching the digivice in his hand. For a digimon to digivolve they needed to have enough energy, their partner could be in some kind of danger, or the human's emotions were extreme enough that they could force a digimon to digivolve. Tai didn't want to expose Koromon to his hate and anger again, so instead he focused on how much he wanted to protect not only his friends, but the people around them and anyone who couldn't protect themselves. His hand tightened on his digivice and he gasped as his energy rushed out through him to Koromon, just as Ogremon hit him with his club.

"Koromon!" Tai cried. The digivice lit up like a beacon, and Koromon started to glow brightly.

"Koromon digivolve to – Agumon!"

As Koromon began to digivolve, a hole in the sky appeared and started to suck in everything relating to the Digital World, and the rubble that the digimon had created. It was bright, and Tai instinctively knew that this would be his last chance to get back.

"The dimensional rift is opening up like a giant vacuum cleaner!" Tai gapped.

Agumon landed on the traffic lights just above Tai and Kari, and as Ogremon leaped at him again he attacked with his _Pepper Breath_ and sent Ogremon flying up into the dimensional rift. And then Agumon was floating up, and Tai feared for a moment that his friend would leave him behind.

"Come back!" he called as he started to run forward. Small hands grabbed his arm before he could go far and he knew that he had to choose between Agumon and Kari.

"Stay with me Tai!" Kari begged. Tai wanted to, he needed to know that his sister was safe, but if he took her home now he would never be able to return to the Digital World.

"No, go wait for mum and dad," he told her.

"I'm sorry," Kari mumbled as her head came to rest against his back.

"For what?"

"You're right, I know you have to leave."

"I really do," Tai told her. "Okay?"

"Okay," Kari agreed.

"Agumon can't digivolve without me, this is my fight too," he said. He held up his digivice in his left hand and immediately he felt his body lighten as it was pulled into the sky as well. "I need to make sure that they're safe, that she's safe."

"Please be careful," Kari begged. She held onto his right hand for as long as she could, but eventually Tai was too high for her to continue to hold on, especially as he wasn't holding her hands.

"Bye Kari," he whispered.

"Bye, bye Tai! Don't forget about me!" Kari called after him. Tai watched as she got smaller and smaller, but he knew that he couldn't take her with him. It was too dangerous for her as she was, and he knew that if his mother found out she would be really mad at him. But now, he had achieved what he wanted. He was going back to the Digital World.

Lights flashed passed him rapidly, and with his eyes opened now he realized that he was traveling down a large tube of some kind. If he looked closer through the walls he could see several other tubes of slightly different colours. He wondered where they led to. He was definitely going to the Digital World, as it was his digivice leading the way, and he was reassured of his destination when he crashed into hot sand.

Looking around, he was relieved to see Agumon next to him, and when he saw the rubble of what could have been a pyramid, and endless to each horizon, he was pretty positive that he had arrived at the exact same place he had left from. He stood up and brushed the sand out of his hair, pulling on his gloves once he was done.

"Well Agumon, we're back in business. Now we've got to decide what our first move is!"

"Well, we have to find our friends," Agumon suggested. "Then we have to make sure that you and the others get home safely."

"Not until we conquer all the evil digimon!" Tai told him with determination. "Otherwise, neither one of our worlds will ever be safe!"

"Right!"

Tai looked at the digivice in his hands before slipping it onto his belt again. They needed a direction, and walking aimlessly didn't really appeal to him. He looked to Agumon and thought about everything the digimon had told him.

"Can you sense where the others are?"

"They're a long way away," Agumon told him. "And it feels like they've separated. But if we walk that way, we should find one of our friends."

Tai looked to where Agumon was pointing and nodded. He trusted that Agumon knew where to go, so he started to walk. It was important that they got back together; otherwise both the Digital World and the Human World would never be the same again. He was sure of it.

* * *

**First off: Wow! That was the fastest reponse for any chapter in this story so far. Thankyou to everyone who reviewed, the lovely Okami Princess for betaing this chapter, and lozzy161 for putting up with my nagging when she was supposed to be doing homework (hehe). Love you guys! You're the best!**

**Answers to those who asked questions that weren't answered in the chapter just uploaded:**

**Impstar:**** Not as susceptible, but she is sensitive to dark energies and can pinpoint their exact location and sometimes intentions. She didn't defeat Etemon because Tai requested the first shot. As he had just been attacked, Phoenixmon allowed him first dibs. As for the rest of the Potterverse, oh yeah. I have so many plans for those characters and Voldemort. Hehe**

**OSR fanatic:**** Good question, but at the moment she is not staying. She will return to England at the end of summer camp, but before the second season starts she will be back in Japan and the Digital World altering things to help fight against the darkness that is once again, leeching into the Digital World. When she is back in Japan she will attend a magic/muggle school.**

**Kurai's Calisto: You're close, but it was Guilmon's partner who turned her back on him, Wizardmon's partner died tragically. Tai's mum will get her moment, but not until the digidestined are all back in the Human World.**

**Venas:**** Wow, you had a lot of questions. Let's see, yes, there will be recognition, but she won't be happy to begin with. Guilmon won't show up for a few chapters yet. Wizardmon's fate is a secret, and Tomomon will stay in the Digital/Shadow World while the digidestined look for Kari. Jade will return to the Human World, and go back to England. Your pairing is spot on, Tai is my favourite character and I love how he grew into a responsible and mature teenager (and he became a diplomat! Go figure!). Think of Tomomon as the protective father who needs to approve of his daughter's suitors. Finally, Kari and the Shadow World...haven't decided yet. As for the fanart, I can't draw very well but I drew my inspiration from Google Images: Dark Angel (for Horcruxmon) and Anime Angel of Fire (for Phoenixmon). If you would like to have a go, I'd love to see what your imagination can come up with.**

**Guest:**** Jade will end up with Tai, eventually. She is only nine now, there's still quite a few years before she will even think of Tai like that.**

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 16: Inner Powers**_


	16. Inner Powers - TK

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. He was pulled into the Human World where he realised no time had passed since they were first sent to the Digital World. Despite how much Tai wanted to stay, he knew he couldn't and foundhis way back to the Digital World._

_In the Digital World, the digidestined separated. Jade ran from them first and was finally reunited with her digimon partner who she calls Tom, no matter was digivolution he is in. In Jade's absence from his life, Tom went insane and destroyed the world that he ruled. It is also revealed that Tom was once a human, who tried to kill Jade when she was a baby, but when that failed his soul latched onto her. The shard was removed from Jade when she was first pulled into the Digital World, and that was how Tom was born._

_Now Tai and Agumon are working towards finding the other children, because they need to fight together to win, or they would lose._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 16: Inner Powers ~ TK

* * *

TK had been alone for weeks now. He had lost count as the digidestined had slowly fallen apart without Tai or Jade there to hold them together. He remembered waking up after hearing the digimon all yell out at the same time, and seeing Jade disappearing. She had transformed and flew up into the sky, but then there was a loud 'BANG' that made his ears hurt, and she was gone. He hoped that she was alright.

But it was like Jade leaving was the signal for everyone else to leave as well. Sora left a few nights later to look for Jade and Tai, and then the others thought it would be a good idea to split up to cover more ground. Izzy left next, then Mimi, and then Joe, until it was just him and his brother. Matt had stayed with him for a while, but he had gotten really quiet. Then they had arrived at an amusement park, it was empty but what kid didn't want to spend all day in an amusement park with no lines?

Then Matt had gone off on his own as well, and it was just TK and Tokomon. TK knew that he had worried his partner, but he was the youngest in the group and he really wanted his big brother to protect him.

Growing up with just his mother had been hard. For the first year he had missed Matt a lot, but when he realized that every time he asked his mother if his dad and brother would be coming home upset her, he stopped asking. He had been six when he realized that his parents didn't like each other anymore and didn't want to see each other. At first he thought that it was because of him, as they had only started to fight after he was born, and he supposed that in a way he still thought that it was because of him that his parents no longer lived together.

He was glad that he went to the same school as his brother, even if they couldn't spend as much time together as he had wanted. A cruel boy in his class had made fun of him because his parents weren't together, and since then Matt had managed to ensure that every lunch time they could eat together. Matt had helped TK learn that it wasn't his fault that their parents had grown apart. TK hadn't listened to his classmate again, even though he now had ammunition against him. Davis, the bully, had been kept back his first year because he had failed, and as such he was the oldest in their year.

But now it seemed like Matt had finally gotten tired of him and all those doubts about everything falling apart around him were coming back. It was like he couldn't do anything right and no one wanted anything to do with him. The thought only brought more tears to his eyes and the horizon became blurry. He was sitting on the pier a short distance from the amusement park, and he hadn't moved far from it for almost a whole week. Tokomon brought him food, but TK couldn't eat much of it. His stomach was twisted in knots and the thought of food made it twist tighter.

"TK? Please eat something."

TK didn't turn to answer Tokomon. Why should he eat if he was the one forcing everyone to leave him? It would probably be better if he just disappeared like Tai and Jade had. No one would worry about him then, and he wouldn't annoy anyone with all his crying. He pulled his knees closer to his chest and hid his eyes so that he wouldn't be able to see anything.

"Don't cry TK," Tokomon told him.

"He's gone, just like all the others," TK wept as more tears fell down his cheeks. "He said he'd be only a couple of hours, but it's been days! Why doesn't anyone like me Tokomon?"

"Don't give up hope," Tokomon tried to reassure him. Tokomon remembered what Jade had told them ages ago, when TK had gotten his crest. To make it glow, TK couldn't give up hope, he needed it. But even as Tokomon tried to help, he could feel a strange emptiness washing over him. He knew that TK's lack of hope was taking away some of his power.

"Hey! What's all that squawking about?"

TK and Tokomon looked up abruptly to see a new digimon they hadn't met before, though Tokomon had a feeling that this digimon wasn't a nice one. He was small, and greatly resembled a bat. He had creepy yellow eyes and a skull tattoo in the middle of his forehead. There was something about him that just seemed malicious.

"Demidevimon's the name," the new digimon continued. "Mind if I drop in?"

"Demidevimon?" Tokomon repeated. "I've heard of you, but nothing I heard was good."

"I admit it," Demidevimon began. "I used to be a bit of a wise guy, but that was only because I was working for Etemon. But now he's caput thanks to you guys, for which I'm eternally grateful. Personally I never liked the guy."

TK had an idea. As he was, Tokomon couldn't fly across the lake to look for Matt, but Demidevimon had wings and could do it for them. Then he would know for certain if his brother had abandoned him or had gotten into trouble and couldn't come back right away.

"Have you seen my brother out there?" he asked the flying bat. "He's in a boat."

"Oh, is that what's got you down squirt?" Demidevimon asked him. "Well you've come to the right digimon. What's his name, your brother?"

"His name is Matt."

"Got it! Let me see what I can do. Back in a flash."

With that Demidevimon flew away in the same direction as Matt and Gabumon had gone. TK stood up and watched him fly, and desperately hoped that he hadn't been abandoned. Tokomon walked closer to his feet and head-butted him reassuringly.

"Well, maybe he has changed," Tokomon told him. TK looked down and wondered what rumours his partner had heard about Demidevimon.

"You think?" he asked. Hope was blossoming in his chest, and he was almost dancing on the spot as he waited for Demidevimon. The little digimon didn't take long, it only took him a few minutes to return. TK was unable to keep the smile off his face as he spotted him in the distance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Demidevimon told him.

"What about it? Did you find my brother?" TK asked him hopefully.

"Sure I did," Demidevimon told him. Something in his tone had Tokomon worried.

"Is he coming back?"

"Well, that's the bad news kid," Demidevimon said as flew in tight circles around them.

"What?" TK's tone was still hopeful, but dread was pooling in his stomach. He started to think that Matt was hurt, or Demidevimon had found his body where he had been killed.

"It kills me to have to be the one to break this to you, but your brother isn't coming back."

TK felt his heart fracture in his chest. He knew it, Matt had died.

"In fact, your brother never wants to see you again."

What? Matt was alive? He really had abandoned him?

"Said he was tired of babysitting a cry baby," Demidevimon concluded.

"No way!" TK cried. His heart wasn't just fracturing now, it was completely shattered. It hurt more than he thought it would and more tears flooded his eyes.

"It can't be true TK!" Tokomon told him, seeing the devastation on TK's face.

"He called me a–"

"-cry baby, yep, that's what he said," Demidevimon told him. There was just that little bit too much glee in his tone of voice to reassure Tokomon, and he knew that he was lying. Matt loved his brother, there was no way that he'd abandon TK like that.

"He called you some other stuff too, but I don't want to repeat it. Anyway, he's gone!"

That was the last straw for TK. All his fear were just proven true, and now more than anything he wanted to disappear. He wanted to go home, he wanted to curl up under his bedcovers and he wanted his mother. She had been right to separate them all those years ago, maybe she had known that Matt wouldn't like him and wanted to spare him the pain of knowing about it. He wished that he had never come to the Digital World in the first place, all it did was get people hurt.

He ended up running along the lake edge until he was far away from the amusement park. If Matt didn't want to see him anymore, then he would make sure that he was never found. He wondered if Tai would be his brother instead, he had never been mean to him, and he was fun to play with.

"Come on, Matt would never say stuff like that," Tokomon tried to reassure him as he threw small stones into the lake. He pretended that each splash was the rock hitting Matt's face. "Besides, we've been working on the crying thing and you're getting better, you really are. Don't believe that guy."

TK covered his ears, he didn't want to hear what Tokomon had to say. He couldn't keep lifting up his hopes only to have them crash to the ground. Maybe it was time to just stop waiting for others to help him, and do something on his own? He nodded to himself and stood up to go and get Tokomon. Maybe they could play on the rollercoaster or something before they left. He hadn't gone into the amusement park since Matt left, and he wanted to play. He walked off to where Tokomon had run off to, but before he could call out he saw his partner attack Demidevimon for no apparent reason.

"Tokomon! What are you doing?" he cried in horror as he ran up to see what was going on.

"What TK?" Tokomon asked him with a hint of attitude in his tone.

"I saw you take a shot at him," TK told him in disapproval.

"Don't be too hard on him TK," Demidevimon told him as he flew to rest just behind TK's shoulder. "I understand what the poor guy's feeling, it's only natural to be a little resentful that you've found yourself a new friend."

Tokomon was jealous? That's why he attacked the other digimon? That didn't sound like Tokomon, but he hadn't seen what started the fight. Still, when someone attacked another person, they needed to apologise. That's what his mum always said.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I think an apology's in order."

"Well don't hold your breath," Tokomon told him. TK felt like he had been slapped. What was going on?

"Do it!" he ordered.

"I will not!" Tokomon snapped back at him. "If you like that flying rat so much, then maybe I should leave."

Leave? So, Tokomon wanted to leave him as well?

"If you won't apologize you have to leave," TK insisted. If Tokomon really wanted to stay with him he would apologise, and if he didn't he was going to leave him too.

"You really mean it?" Tokomon asked, and TK nodded.

"Yeah, sure! Go on!"

"I won't be coming back you know?" Tokomon warned him. TK knew it, he was making his friends leave. It was his fault. But he had told himself earlier that he wouldn't cry anymore, so he just pushed away the hurt and continued talking to his one-time friend and partner.

"You don't see me crying about it. And I don't want these stupid gadgets either," he said as he pulled his tag out from under his shirt and unhooked his digivice from his bag. He threw them on the ground and ignored the twinge of pain from his chest. "Come on Demidevimon, let's go ride the roller coaster!"

TK ran off, Demidevimon flying after him. From behind him, his small voice carrying on the wind, was Tokomon's last words to him.

"That suits me fine! Goodbye!"

His sobs hurt more than TK thought they would, but he just kept running.

* * *

Tokomon cried for ages. He wondered if this was how Agumon felt when Tai threatened to get rid of him when he was in that mood? It felt like someone had ripped out his heart and crushed it into oblivion in front of him. How could TK have chosen a digimon they just met over him? He had been deleted to save TK! There was nothing he wouldn't do to keep him safe. Did that mean nothing to TK?

"Tokomon!"

There was a new voice in the air, but Tokomon thought it was just his imagination and kept his eyes closed.

"Tokomon!"

And another voice. There were two new voices, and they were getting louder.

"Hey, what happened little guy? Are you alright?"

"Not exactly," Tokomon muttered as he opened his eyes. Someone had picked him up so he knew that he wasn't dreaming, but when his eyes rested on the person holding him he couldn't believe his eyes.

"You look like Tai," he said without thinking. Then he looked closer. "You are Tai! You're alive!"

Happiness crept back into his heart. If there was anyone who could get through to TK at the moment it would be Tai.

"Yeah, the last time I checked," Tai told him. Tokomon looked to the side and saw Agumon grinning at him. They were both alive, but something between them had changed. They didn't look any different since the last time they had been seen, except for the fact that Tai looked like he was wearing different clothes.

"I bet a Black Gear digimon got you," Agumon told him in concern. "Right?"

"No, if it was something simple like that I wouldn't feel so bad," Tokomon replied as he leapt from Tai's arms. Vaguely, he wondered when he had started to think of the digimon infected by the Black Gears as "simple".

"Where is everyone?" Tai asked him. "Where's TK?"

"I don't know," Tokomon muttered. "Probably off playing with his new friend."

"New friend? What new friend?"

"I think you'd better ask TK," Tokomon felt like crying again, but he still managed to stare up at Tai with enough intensity that the older boy looked alarmed.

"I would, but he's not here," Tai told him. "You are though, so start at the beginning and tell me everything that has happened."

So Tokomon did, and the two looked really surprised to find out that they had been missing for a long time. As he talked, Tokomon observed the way that Tai held himself, and the way that Agumon would look at him in concern when he thought the boy wasn't looking. He wondered if Tai was still hurt from the battle with Etemon. By the time he finished the story, Tai was standing up and staring at the amusement park in the distance. He was cradling his left arm across his body but he seemed unaware of his protective stance.

"You see Tai, we go away for a few days and everything falls apart!" Agumon told him. It was only now that he was believing what Jade had told them many times, and what the others had alluded to a few times. Tai was important in keeping them all together, and because he had disappeared, there was little holding them together.

"First let's find out what TK's up to," Tai decided, his eyes on the amusement park still. "And then we'll find Matt and the others. Take us to him Tokomon."

"You got it!" Tokomon cried happily. As Tokomon started to run off, Tai bent down and swiped the digivice and crest from the ground. He started to jog after the little digimon, Agumon at his side, and his attention focused on the gadgets in his hand. He was no expert, but they felt different to his own. They felt cold, and Tokomon looked tired and worn out. Was there something more that allowed the digimon to live?

"TK denied him," Agumon whispered so that Tokomon couldn't hear him. "I think we need to have a strong bond in order to do what we do. My ability to fight was greatly reduced in the colosseum when we fought."

"The trust between us had been damaged," Tai muttered. "You didn't trust me, and I didn't trust myself."

"TK threw away his digivice," Agumon continued. "And now Tokomon is slowly fading away."

"He's dying?"

"We're different to other digimon, all of us have noticed it," Agumon tried to explain. "We can sense the power of the digivice, but without it, it's like there's this hole in our hearts. You have no idea how much it hurt when Etemon hit you. I didn't want to believe it, but for a brief moment there I felt your death. You were healed so soon afterwards that I was able to erase it from my mind, but I felt weaker."

"But you wouldn't have died if I died?"

"I don't think so, but it would be like a part of me was missing, you know?"

"So that's how Tokomon feels now?"

"TK's not dead, but he as good as said that he didn't want to be with Tokomon anymore. Their bond needs to be restored."

"I can do that."

Agumon nodded and sped up a little. He had noticed that Tokomon was getting tired, so he lifted him so that he was sitting on his head. They continued to jog, and Tai slid the crest and digivice out of sight into his pocket.

The amusement park was huge, and despite the worry that was in Tai's mind, he couldn't help but think that Jade and TK would have had the greatest time in the world if they were together playing there. So many different rides, and no one to tell them that they were too short to go on them. As he ran, his digivice started to go off, similar to how it had done when they were getting closer to Tokomon.

"Why's it going off?" he asked.

"Could be trouble," Agumon told him nervously. "That's what it usually means."

"Never mind that now!" Tai told him, pushing aside the noisy digivice. "Look who we found!"

Sitting all alone at a table, looking miserable, was TK. Tai hated to see that look on anyone's face, especially on children. Children, in his opinion, should always be happy. To have that look of misery meant that they weren't being treated properly, and TK was still so young. Why was he left alone?

"TK!"

"Yoo-hoo!" Agumon added.

TK looked up curiously to see who was calling for him, and the misery on his face disappeared as he recognized Tai and Agumon. A huge smile lit up his face and he got off the chair he was on in order to run towards Tai.

"You're back!" he cried happily as he ran.

"Yeah, and are we glad to see you!" Tai told him as he bent down to catch the suddenly airborne boy. He laughed as he lifted TK into his arms, and while he didn't say anything about it, he noticed that TK was lighter than the last time he had lifted the boy. He clearly hadn't been eating.

"You were gone a really long time Tai," TK mumbled into Tai's clothes. "I was worried about you. We thought something bad had happened to you."

"Well I'm back again, and I'm all in one piece."

"Are your clothes different? You weren't wearing that before were you?"

"It's a long story," Tai told him. "And I'll tell it to you later, alright?"

"Alright."

Tokomon used that moment to jump off of Agumon's head and announce his presence. TK allowed Tai to put him back on the ground.

"Tokomon! You came back too?" TK suddenly realized Tokomon nodded. "So you finally admitted that you were wrong and you're going to apologize to him now?"

"I wasn't wrong and I won't apologize," Tokomon told him.

"Tokomon, what's happened to you?" TK asked. "When did you get to be such a brat?"

Tai and Agumon watched the interaction with wide eyes. They were beyond shocked at the behavior of both their friends that they were momentarily speechless. Tai shook his shock away and stepped between the two before more hurtful words could be said.

"Hey you two, knock off this bickering right now because we've got too many other problems to worry about. We've got to go and find Matt and all the others!"

"Not me," TK told him, turning away so that he wasn't looking at any of them. "Why should I? They're not nice, they left me behind. First Jade left, then Sora, then the rest, and then even my own brother Matt left me."

"Come on TK, it's not your fault they left," Tai told him in concern.

"They hate me!" TK snapped at him. "They think I'm a cry baby! Even Matt said I was!"

"Whoa!" Tai exclaimed before he could help himself. "I don't know what this new friend of yours has been telling you, but I happen to know for a fact that Matt does not hate you."

"Well you might not be saying such nice things about him if you knew that I wanted to keep searching for you but he didn't," TK continued. "It's true, he's really jealous of you Tai. Haven't you noticed that he gets all upset when you and me do stuff together? And he hates it when I talk about you. Do you think I could be your little brother instead?! Please!"

"I don't think it works that way," Tai tried as TK hugged him around his middle.

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't, that's all."

"You don't like me either?" TK moaned. Tai looked over his shoulder to Agumon and Tokomon. Both of them were staring at the two humans, gobsmacked, but that might have been due to TK's melancholy. Tai had no idea what to do.

_Restore his Hope._

Jade? Tai thought in shock as her voice echoed in his mind. His eyes searched for her without him moving his body and he hugged TK tighter to his body. Jade had to be around somewhere, but why hadn't she made herself known?

_I still have things to do before I can join you again, Courage. But I will always be watching out for you._

Tai nodded slightly and knelt down so that he was face to face with TK. The boy's blue eyes were still brimming with tears, but the most important thing that Tai had to do was make sure that TK had something to look forward to. He needed Hope.

"Do you remember, on File Island, when we were all separated, and you were in the Primary Village?" he asked. TK nodded, curious about what point was trying to make. "Well, I was with Matt and from that moment I knew how much he loved and worried about you because all he could think of was getting back to you. We got into a fight after I said something about fighting Devimon instead of looking for everyone, and he really let me know how much of an idiot he thought I was. Nothing else mattered to him, except getting back to you."

"Really?" TK asked, light shining in his eyes.

"Really," Tai reassured him. "I think he loves you more than anything, but doesn't quite know how to show it. He's probably gotten into some trouble on the other side of the lake, which means that we have to save him."

"You're not just saying that so that I don't want you to be my big brother, are you?" TK asked.

"No, but I guess it wouldn't hurt if I was your brother for a short while," Tai winked at the little boy. "So, I'll be your big brother temporarily, but just until we find Matt, okay?"

"Okay," TK chirped, now quite happy. Tai grinned as well before standing up straight again and looking around. Now that TK was happier, he could turn his attention elsewhere. Unfortunately, while he couldn't see her, he could hear her laughter in his mind.

_Protect Hope, Courage, and then go looking for the others._

_I will, Lady Sovereign,_ Tai thought back as he closed his eyes. Her laughter echoed again, and then she disappeared from his mind. Agumon was looking at him in worry, but Tai's smile of reassurance had the little digimon grinning happily.

"Look, it's Demidevimon!" TK cried, pointing up to where the bat-like digimon was flying with a basket of mushrooms in his talons.

"That's him?" Tai asked skeptically. "Not the most trustworthy guy I've ever seen."

Demidevimon flew down and placed the basket in front of the group. There was something about his eyes that Tai didn't like, and he rested his left hand on TK's shoulder protectively. Jade had told him to protect Hope, and TK's crest was the crest of Hope. He wondered why Jade was calling them by the crests, and made a mental note to ask her about it when he saw her.

"Welcome back Tokomon, how have you been?" Demidevimon asked, his eyes resting on Tokomon.

"Okay! What did Matt really say to you?!" Agumon demanded loudly. Demidevimon jumped, but Tai didn't even flinch at the demanding tone. He was wondering the same thing.

"Look buddy, just who are you anyway?"

"We're friends of TK's," Tai told him, "Real friends."

"Start talking, and it better be the truth this time," Agumon ordered. At their revelation Demidevimon looked slightly afraid and his eyes fastened on Tai's crest that was resting on the outside of his shirt. If Tai didn't know any better, he would have said that Demidevimon looked afraid.

"It happened just like I told TK," Demidevimon insisted. "Matt said he was tired of the little guy and didn't want to hang with him anymore. I told Matt that brothers really ought to stick together, but he wouldn't listen to me. It's the truth! Cross my heart!"

"If you've got one," Agumon growled.

"Hey! Why would I lie?!"

"Then you won't mind taking us to Matt so we can ask him ourselves," Tai told him.

"Not at all," Demidevimon replied instantly. "But I gotta warn you, he's far away."

"Let's get started then," Tai told him. His hand was still on TK's shoulder, and he really didn't like what Demidevimon was plotting.

"Fine, let's go," Demidevimon agreed. "But it's been a long day. Wouldn't you like something to eat first?"

"I am a little hungry," Agumon admitted, and so did Tokomon and TK. Tai still wasn't sure, but he hadn't eaten anything since the watermelon Kari had set out for him. Agumon hadn't eaten anything either, and Tai was very aware of the dinosaur's eyes on him as he decided what to do. In the end he nodded that they were to eat something, and TK cheered with delight. Tokomon was sniffing at the mushrooms when Demidevimon settled on the ground next to him.

"I picked these myself," he said proudly. "They're fresh and juicy."

Agumon reached forward to grab one, but in this area Tai was determined that if they were to eat, he would cook them first. As it was an amusement park, Tai was a little surprised to see that there were barbeques lined up around the eating area, but didn't worry too much about them because they were in the Digital World. He took the basket of mushrooms and under TK's watchful eyes he cooked up each mushroom so that they could be eaten. Agumon used this time to head to the bathroom, but Tai knew he'd be back.

"Okay TK," Tai said as he lifted up one of the mushrooms. "You're first. Tell me if it's too hot."

TK took his mushroom with a smile and licked it with his tongue. Evidently, it was much too hot as he cried out in pain as his tongue burned. Tai smiled at him and took back the mushroom to cool it down. He demonstrated how to blow on it without spitting on it, and TK took it back to follow his instructions.

"Do you want one?" TK asked Tokomon.

"I wouldn't touch it," Tokomon told him, turning his head away at the mushroom. Tai watched with concern, and wondered if it was jealousy or something more that had Tokomon insisting that Demidevimon was evil. TK popped his mushroom in his mouth whole, now that it was cooler, and he grinned happily.

"Don't eat the mushrooms! Don't eat the mushrooms!"

Tai turned to look towards Agumon in confusion. Agumon was running towards them as fast as he could, and his eyes were wide in alarm and fear.

"Put it down! Stop it! Don't eat it!" Agumon was begging as he got closer. Tai reached over and pulled TK's out of his mouth, noticing as he did that part of the mushroom had already been eaten.

"It's alright Agumon," Tai said reassuringly. "There are plenty of mushrooms for everyone."

"No! Don't eat any of them! They're poison!"

Tai's eyes went wide and his face went pale as he stared at the mushroom TK had eaten a bit of. His eyes rested on TK before he threw the mushrooms to the ground and put his hands on TK's shoulders. The boy looked scared and Tai had no idea what to do. He turned to Agumon.

"What type of poison?" he asked urgently.

"They're the Mushrooms of Forgetfulness!" Agumon cried. "Demidevimon wanted us to eat them so that we'd forget about each other."

"Oh no!" TK moaned. "I ate some."

"It was only a small bite though," Tai said. "How much would he forget if it's only a little bit?"

Demidevimon started to laugh. Agumon grabbed a hold of him and demanded answers while Tai tried to come up with an idea to prevent TK losing his memory.

"I'm scared Tai," TK admitted.

"Don't be," Tai told him softly. "Remember, always have Hope."

He pulled out TK's crest from his pocket and slipped it over TK's head. The little yellow crest began to glow and Demidevimon cried out in horror. The others watched as TK started to glow as well, and when he stopped he smiled brightly.

"My crest glowed!"

"Always have Hope TK," Tai whispered. TK turned to Tokomon and apologized for doubting him, and the two of them promised that they would always be friends. Then the two looked towards Demidevimon where he was still struggling in Agumon's grasp.

"I was so close!" he screamed. "Urgh! Who gave you the idea that that crest was yours anyway?! Hand it over you little squirt!"

TK recoiled as Demidevimon tried to charge at him, but Tokomon jumped in the way and attacked the other digimon. TK grinned and Tai handed over his digivice as well, just in time for Tokomon to digivolve into Patamon and chase away Demidevimon for good.

"You were awesome Patamon!" TK told him once he flew back down successful. "Now I feel even worse about the way I treated you."

"We promised that we'd always be friends," Patamon said. "And the first rule of friendship is forgive-and-forget. Let's forget it ever happened, okay?"

"Okay, I'll pretend that funny mushroom made me forget," TK told him. Patamon grinned and flew into his arms.

"That's cute," Tai remarked from where he and Agumon were hiding in the bushes. "And it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you, Agumon. How did you find out about those mushrooms anyway?"

"Ah, a voice in my head," Agumon admitted.

"Was it Jade?"

"No, have you been hearing her?"

"Yes, I think she was the one who kept TK from forgetting anything," Tai pondered. "She has always been there when we needed her."

"She's always been there when _you_ needed her, Tai," Agumon added.

Tai blushed, but otherwise made no comment. He strolled over to the other two members of their team and suggested that they get a move on to find the others. TK wanted to have a go on some of the rides with Patamon first, and since it was getting dark Tai suggested that they leave when the sun came up. With joy TK disappeared into the amusement park, and Tai and Agumon followed with ideas on a few rides they wanted to go on as well.

* * *

Jade watched from the tree she was sitting in as Tai and TK ran off to have fun. Tomomon was on her lap, and he seemed disinterested in the two humans and their digimon.

"They are the digidestined?" he asked scornfully. "They don't look like much."

"You know that Gennai and the others only chose those who are worthy," Jade told him softly with a soft tap on his head. "They are still growing."

"The Protector of Hope is just lucky that he regained his hope before his memory was erased," Tomomon continued with a frown. "His light would never have shone without his memory."

"So pessimistic," Jade scolded. "Come on, I want to see what Demidevimon is up to. Someone must be behind his desire to prevent the lights from glowing."

Tomomon said nothing and just moved so he was resting on Jade's shoulders instead of her lap. She leapt from tree to tree, following the path that Demidevimon had taken, and spotted him by the lake's edge, grovelling on the ground. He was speaking to a black shadow that radiated darkness, and Jade knew that if her Tom wasn't acting as a filter for that darkness, she would probably be in a lot of pain. As it was, a light headache sprung up as the darkness washed over her.

"Forgive me Oh Terrible One!" Demidevimon was crying. "The crest of Hope has regained its light. I failed! But I'll make it up to you! I'll work overtime, and on Sundays!"

"Coward," Tomomon hissed almost silently.

"We need to follow him," Jade hissed back to him, just as quiet. "He's going to be looking for the other digidestined."

"Not that I care," Tomomon told her as Demidevimon flew away. "But why can't they look after themselves yet?"

"You do so care." Jade told him as she began to leap through the trees again. "And you're going to help me protect them because it's important to me. They are the defenders of this World, and they will need to become a lot stronger to defeat the evil darkness that has taken root here."

"Darkness is not evil!"

"No, but the darkness that is growing in this world has been growing for hundreds of years," she told him. "And this darkness is evil. It is poisoning this World, and needs to be sent back to where it can grow without causing harm. That's why the Shadow World exists, remember?"

"Fine," Tomomon sighed heavily. "Let's go and protect the Protectors."

Jade only laughed.

* * *

"Okay, listen up," Tai said later that night before they all settled down to sleep. "Izzy was totally right when he said that all the weird stuff going on here in the Digital World affects our own world too. I don't know how we're going to do it yet, but it seems to me we've gotta fix things in this world, before we can return to our own world. But if we're going to do that, we've got to work together as a team. Every one of us is important."

"Am I important too?" TK asked with wide eyes.

"Of course you are TK," Tai told him with a smile. "You're a part of the team. Now let's get some sleep so that we can go and find the others!"

TK nodded and curled up with Patamon, and a moment later was asleep. Agumon sat down next to Tai and fiddled with a couple of dried out twigs to create a fire. They said nothing for a long time, but eventually Agumon broke the silence.

"Is your arm any better?"

Tai looked down at his left arm. It had actually started hurting shortly before they found Tokomon, but he had tried to hide how much it was hurting him. He shook his head, marveling that Agumon could read him better than his own mother could.

"It's broken," he admitted softly so that he didn't wake the other two.

"How long does it take for broken bones to heal?" Agumon asked curiously.

"A few weeks if it's in a cast I guess," Tai mumbled. "I just have to make sure that I don't move it around too much."

"What's a cast?"

"It's a plaster that prevents the bones from moving."

"Will sticks and bandages work?" Agumon continued to ask. Tai thought about it.

"Probably, but I don't know how to make a splint," he admitted. "We'll have to wait until he find Joe. He'll know how to make one."

Agumon nodded his agreement, and silently hoped that they'd find Joe soon. He didn't want his friend to be hurting any more than he had to. Tai ordered him to get some sleep as he moved closer to the fire. Agumon would have, but he didn't want Tai to have to keep watch all night. He asked to be woken in a few hours so that he could keep watch, and after Tai's nod of agreement he curled up and was snoring shortly after. Tai waited until he could hear his snores before bringing his left arm closer to his body. It really did hurt. He swallowed another aspirin to take the sting off, but he knew that he needed to bandage the arm soon or he would do more damage to it.

His thoughts turned to how they had found TK. The boy's distress had taken him by surprise, as had his insistence that everyone hated him. Thoughts like that didn't appear overnight. It had taken Tai several months after Kari's accident to start thinking like that, however, he didn't know TK very well. Something must have happened to him when he was younger to make him think like that. That turned his thoughts to the other digidestined, and what he knew about them.

Sora didn't get to see much of her father as he was generally busy with work, and she didn't have a good relationship with her mother. She was a very domineering person, and she had made it her job life to look after those around her. It just so happened that Tai was her favorite person to mother. As her mother owned a flower shop, Sora had decided from a young age that she didn't like flowers.

Mimi loved pink, dolls, and clothes. She was a "girly girl", and just from listening to her Tai knew that she was spoiled rotten at home. He would even go as far to say that she was a "daddy's girl" as he seemed to buy her everything that she could possibly want. He thought that she had a little brother, but he wasn't sure as she didn't speak about him. She was also very innocent when it came to certain things, and wasn't used to the type of hard work that they'd undertaken since arriving in the Digital World.

There was nothing that Izzy couldn't do with computers, but beyond that Tai didn't know much about him. He had first met the other boy when he joined the soccer team he was on, though he hadn't lasted long on the team as he just wasn't a people person. He wasn't a completely hopeless soccer player, but he spent too much time thinking about what he could do, than actually doing it. It was also during this time that Tai started to call him Izzy, as he had been too lazy to call him Koushiro. "Izzy" was a shortening of his last name, Izumi. But during their adventures so far, Tai realized that despite how smart Izzy was, he was also just a scared little boy who didn't know how to relate to people.

Joe, for as long as Tai's known him, has been very high-strung and over-stressed. The previous summer had resulted in him being admitted to the hospital for some reason, and he hadn't been able to attend camp. He had never found out what had caused Joe to be admitted, but ever since he had been a pessimist and highly apprehensive. He was also overly prepared for anything and everything. There was a reason Joe had been the one to carry the bag of emergency supplies.

And then there was Matt. Yamato Ishida was that guy in school who spent more time worrying about his appearance and social life than his academics. He always seemed to be a part of the "cool" crowd, but off the top of his head Tai wouldn't be able to name the blonde boy's best friend. He was also overly protective of TK, though he thought it had something to do with what made TK so insecure about himself.

"I don't really know anyone," Tai muttered as he stared into the fire.

"Then talk about it with them when we find them," Agumon told him without opening his eyes.

"You should be sleeping," Tai told him.

"You're thinking too loud."

"I suppose you're right."

"You're exhausted Tai, you haven't been able to rest since before you arrived in the Digital World. I'll take over and wake you an hour or so before sunrise. You can take the last watch."

Tai nodded and flopped onto his back. Maybe if he slept everything would make sense to him in the morning.

Maybe.

* * *

**To all my reviewers: You are awesome! I'm glad you like Tom, and yes, he will meet Voldemort eventually. It will be a while in the future (like after Jade is studying magic) but they will meet. Once again, thanks go to Okami Princess and lozzy161 for being awesome and putting up with me.**

**Liedral: Phoenixmon is slightly more powerful than a mega digimon, and that's mainly because she also has her magic. Tom is the same. It doesn't mean that they're immortal, you can still overpower a mega and defeat them, so if Jade and Tom were overpowered they could still be defeated. And Jade is weaker against dark attacks (like how Angemon's attacks are more effective against dark digimon)**

**Okami Princess: Yuuko may or may not find Tai's shirt before he returns again, and I do plan on having her and Guilmon meet at some stage. Teary reunion!**

**Cookie Spasms: Yes, Hogwarts will come around at some stage, though it won't be until after season 1 finishes.**

**Kage Hasu: Your wish is my command. I do intend to give back stories to the others, and hopefully I'll do it justice.**

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 17: Inner Powers ~ Matt**_


	17. Inner Powers - Matt

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. He was pulled into the Human World where he realised no time had passed since they were first sent to the Digital World. Despite how much Tai wanted to stay, he knew he couldn't and foundhis way back to the Digital World._

_In the Digital World, the digidestined separated. Jade ran from them first and was finally reunited with her digimon partner who she calls Tom, no matter was digivolution he is in. In Jade's absence from his life, Tom went insane and destroyed the world that he ruled. It is also revealed that Tom was once a human, who tried to kill Jade when she was a baby, but when that failed his soul latched onto her. The shard was removed from Jade when she was first pulled into the Digital World, and that was how Tom was born._

_Tai and Agumon have found TK and now they are working towards finding the other children, because they need to fight together to win, or they would lose._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 17: Inner Powers ~ Matt

* * *

Matt stared at the lake's edge with a puzzled frown. He was trying to get back to TK, but somehow they had gotten twisted up on the lake and he couldn't remember which way back to the amusement park. It had been a day since he had left TK, and he was angry at himself for breaking his promise to his brother. He had never done that before.

When his parents divorced he had blamed his mother, because it was like she was always screaming at dad for something trivial. And then she got a promotion at work, but to accept the promotion meant that they would need to move again, and dad couldn't because of his job. So his mother had filed for a divorce and took TK with her. Matt was just happy that TK was at the same school as he was, even if it was the other side of town.

TK had always had an issue with bullying, he just didn't know how to stand up for himself. It made Matt feel strong to be asked to help, and it meant that he could spend more time with TK. Summer camp was great, aside from the fact that the English students were snobs and wouldn't lower themselves to join them in their activities, because it meant that TK was with him full-time. And then they had been sucked into the Digital World and very slowly TK was becoming stronger and not coming to him as often as he used to. TK was making friends.

He had fought with Tai after File Island broke apart because he didn't want TK to be alone, but now he had willingly left him behind. He felt like a hypocrite. What if something happened to TK when he was alone? Matt's thoughts then turned to Tai and Jade.

Tai was a natural leader, and he was always looking after the others. He wasn't sure if the others had noticed, but Tai had lost weight as he had given food to the younger children and digimon before having his own. Of course, by that time there wasn't much to eat. It irritated him, but he hadn't said anything because Tai was happy doing what he was doing. He was curious about Tai's black arm band, the boy had been wearing it for years and Matt had never seen him with it off. He had wondered if Tai was mourning someone, but he had never asked.

And then there was Jade. She was the only English student who wasn't a complete snob and had actually made an effort to understand their language. Tai appeared very protective of her, and Matt had to admit that at times he was worried about her, especially now that she had run off. That blast after she disappeared had scared the living daylights out of him, and he hadn't approved how they split up after that. However, with her memories and abilities, Jade could more than look after herself.

"Where are we Matt?" Gabumon suddenly asked, breaking into his thoughts. "Don't tell me we're lost again?"

"Okay, I won't," Matt replied with the hint of a smile. He looked up at the cliff face and saw something that could possibly help them. He pointed. "But just take a look at that ridge up there."

"Where?" Gabumon asked, before looking up at the cliff as well. "Hey! Other digimon!"

"I say we follow them wherever they're going and hope they're not lost too," Matt suggested.

"I thought we weren't lost?"

"Did I say we weren't?"

Gabumon grumbled good-naturedly but otherwise followed Matt up the cliff side after the Frigimon, Monzaemon, and Kokatorimon. Gabumon was worried about the others, probably more than Matt was, because he knew roughly where each digimon was and how they were. Tokomon was worried about TK, Agumon was too far away, Gomamon was weary, Palmon was apprehensive, Tentomon was scared, and Biyomon was determined. Gomamon was close by, so he was willing to walk after the digimon as they were headed to where Gomamon was.

"Huh, well that's weird," Matt muttered as they stared at a building built into the side of the cliff. The three digimon had already gone in. "It's a restaurant in the middle of nowhere?"

"The perfect location for hungry digimon," Gabumon quipped. He was more than ready to charge forward to find a friend, but when they got closer the object of his attention came flying out the door. Matt stopped in shock, but Gabumon leapt forward and helped Gomamon up from where he had landed upside down.

"Gomamon! Are you okay?" he asked.

"Gabumon! And Matt!" Gomamon crowded with delight and relief. "Is Joe going to be happy to see you two?!"

"Take us to him," Gabumon requested. Gomamon smiled and led the duo around the back of the restaurant to the kitchens. Matt couldn't figure out how either of them had ended up working in the kitchens of a restaurant, but even he recognised the exhaustion on Gomamon's face as he chatted about annoying customers with Gabumon.

"Hey Joe! Guess who I found!" Gomamon crowed as they entered the kitchen.

"Hey Matt!" Joe welcomed with obvious relief. He was standing over the stove making a stew of some kind, but he stepped away from it as he rolled his shoulders to relieve the tension in them.

"Hey Joe," Matt greeted. "Where have you been and what are you doing here?"

"Well, you see…I…um," Joe stammered, obviously unsure as to how to answer.

"You left, and then Mimi and Izzy, they both disappeared," Matt explained. "Then TK and I were left alone."

"I know," Joe sighed. "Well, it started when we all went our separate ways to look for Tai and Jade. I wasn't lost, I definitely knew where I wasn't, but I just didn't know exactly where I was. We were following Gomamon's sense of Jade, though it was so faint that at times we weren't sure we were going the right way at all. It was probably worse when all sense of her disappeared."

"She disappeared?" Matt asked with wide eyes.

"About two days or so after she left us," Gabumon explained.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Matt asked him, hurt. "We worried about her too."

"Probably because you all blamed her for Tai's disappearance," Gomamon scolded. "It wasn't her fault that Etemon was messing with the dark energies, nor could she have predicted that Tai and Metalgreymon would be sucked into the dimensional rift."

"She panicked more than any of you guys," Gabumon continued. "Because she alone knows what could have befallen him."

"Why'd she leave?" Joe asked curiously. "Sure, if she didn't trust us she would have just stayed with you guys like she did at the beginning, but she just ran off on her own."

"Her digimon partner was coming to kill us so she needed to go and reassure him that we were not the enemy," Gomamon stated bluntly.

"I remember her saying something about her partner," Joe muttered as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Something about him being in a lot of trouble."

"Jade is the ruler of the Digital World," Gabumon told him. "It would only make sense that her partner is just as powerful."

"But why would he want to kill us?" Matt asked in confusion. "You guys never wanted to kill us when we arrived."

"Well, it's been, what? A couple thousand years since the Sovereign was last seen in this world?" Gabumon continued. "And I bet anything that her partner was the one who scared Agumon after he hatched. Remember? At the pyramid Agumon admitted to hearing a digimon cry out in agony. He probably went insane and crawled off to a dark hole to die."

"Just how old are you guys anyway?" Joe asked.

"Older than you," Gomamon quipped. "Though Agumon is the oldest out of all of us."

"He obviously didn't die though," Gabumon cut in before they could get too wrapped up in everyone's ages. "Gennai is afraid of him, so he probably did go insane and when he heard that the digidestined were here he might have wanted to come after you in revenge."

"Why revenge?" Joe asked nervously.

"Well, it was something that Leomon told us while we were cutting down trees. You guys weren't there, but Leomon told us that we needed to protect Jade as well as you guys, because the digidestined have always protected the ruler of the Digital World."

"So, Jade's like the queen, and we're her knights?" Joe tried to reason.

"As fascinating as this is, we can talk about it when everyone is together," Matt interrupted. He turned back to Joe. "How did you get to be working here? And when can you leave?"

That launched Joe into a story about how he met a little digimon that looked like a bat who led him towards the restaurant after saying that there were humans in that direction. Of course, he had no idea if the digimon was telling the truth or not, but as he was a little disorientated he followed. They ended up at the restaurant and pigged out on food because they were hungry. When it came time to pay, of course the currency that he had was no good.

So to pay back the owner of the restaurant Joe was now cooking and cleaning. What had started as three days payment, had turned into six weeks. Matt couldn't believe it when first Vegimon, the waiter who looked like a yellow vegetable, and then Digitamamon, the owner of the restaurant who looked like an egg with legs, berated Joe and criticised everything about his technique and added more time onto his punishment.

Matt could now see why the two looked so tired, and why Joe had burns on his hands and arms. Joe probably hadn't cooked a day in his life before working in the restaurant, and he certainly wasn't doing himself any favours by all the mistakes that he seemed to be making. He felt sorry for the guy, but he needed to get TK before he did anything else. Digitamamon and Vegimon left and Matt watched them go with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, Joe?" he began as he looked out the door across the lake. "I need to go and get TK, but after I do we'll come back here and help you work off your debt, okay?"

"Really?" Joe asked, completely gobsmacked and slightly hopeful. "You will?"

"That's what friends do Joe, when things are tough they help each other out," Matt explained, a faint smile on his face. He hadn't had many people he could call friends before coming to the Digital World. He was, however, slightly alarmed when Joe started to cry from his gratitude. Seeing the older boy cry was alarming, as Joe never cried. He whined and complained, but he never cried.

"I'll always remember this Matt," he said. Matt nodded but promised himself that he would hurry back. He darted out the door, Gabumon on his heels, and made his way back to the swan boat they had used to cross the lake.

"I don't like leaving them," Gabumon admitted as they reached the shore.

"Neither do I," Matt told him. "But Joe will be fine until we get back with TK."

Gabumon nodded and grinned when he spotted the boat. He was about to climb in when a harsh voice echoed from behind them.

"Where are you going?" it demanded. "You're not finished, I checked the schedule."

The two of them turned only to be greeted by Digitamamon. The egg was glaring at them, and all things considered, Matt didn't like the way it looked at them.

"Schedule?" Matt queried.

"The work schedule," Digitamamon clarified. "Now get inside and start cooking or you're fired!"

"I quit," Matt told him, puzzled and confused. He shrugged at Gabumon. "How's that?"

"You can't quit!" Digitamamon roared. "I say you stay!"

"Hey, what's the big deal, egg-head?" Matt asked. "I'm coming right back. Besides, you already got a slave working in your kitchen."

"Oh, I see, so you don't care what happens to your friend while you're gone? Selfish, aren't we?"

"What are you talking about?" Matt demanded of him. Now he was getting worried. Not that long ago they were being told to leave by the very same digimon in front of them, and now he wouldn't let them go?

"I'm just saying, while you're away there's no telling what might happen to your little friend. So many accidents can happen in the kitchen you know?"

Matt could feel the blood drain from his face as he understood the implications of what Digitamamon was saying. If he left, something bad would happen to Joe.

"Is that a threat?" he demanded as he raised his fists.

"Easy Matt, he's already cracked," Gabumon cautioned him. Matt growled but he knew that he couldn't leave now. Not only would TK never forgive him if he left when he could have done something to help, he would never forgive himself if something happened while he was gone. He allowed his fists to drop to his side, but he was still furious at how he had just been manipulated.

"I'll stay," he hissed.

* * *

At least, working in the kitchen was familiar to Matt as he was often forced to cook for himself when his dad worked late. He considered himself pretty good, and his dad had once told him that he would have no problems finding a girl when he was older. So when he arrived back in the kitchen he immediately walked over to the stove and told Joe to work on the dishes. Digitamamon watched them work for a few minutes before leaving with a very satisfied laugh. Gomamon and Gabumon sat off to the side, curious about what they could do to help, and wondering what was going on.

"This water's hot," Joe stated, looking over his shoulder at Matt. "If I had some rubber gloves my fingers wouldn't get all wrinkled. So, hey? Just what are you making over there? Is there some reason you're not talking to me? I mean, I know you think I can be irritating sometimes but what gives? Matt?"

It wasn't that Matt was ignoring Joe, he just didn't want to be working in the kitchen. But still, Digitamamon's words kept echoing through his mind:

_So many accidents can happen in the kitchen…so many accidents_

_I can't leave him_, Matt thought as he stabbed a bit of the rice cooking with a little more violence than necessary.

"Did you hear me? Earth to Matt, come in Matt!"

_Although he does talk a lot,_ Matt thought without saying anything. All he did was sigh and try to force his mind away from what was outside of the kitchen.

"Weren't you going to get TK?" Joe asked, and instantly Matt's thoughts returned to why he couldn't go. "If you want to leave it's okay."

"I decided not to go!" he snapped. He instantly regretted it, but not being able to go after TK was troubling him. He was only eight years old. But, a lot of time had passed in the Digital World, TK could very well be nine now without them knowing any different. His birthday was in September.

"Hey, wow, I'm sorry if I said something to make you mad," Joe blustered, turning back to the dishes.

_Man, I can't believe what a jerk I'm being. Joe's just trying to be nice and I bite off his head_.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Matt mumbled, deliberately pushing away any bad thoughts. "I didn't mean to yell at you okay? I guess I was just thinking about something else."

"Oh. Yeah?" Joe asked hopefully, turning back so that he could look at the other boy.

"Anyways, I'm a really good cook," Matt stated in a bragging tone. "Everything will go a lot faster if we work together, and we'll be out of here in no time."

"Alright, I guess that sounds like a plan," Joe agreed.

"I make a mean PB and J, you know?" Gomamon piped up from the corner of the kitchen.

"And I'm an expert at boiling water," Gabumon added, not wanting to be left out.

"Alright then!" Joe cried with hope and excitement in his tone of voice. "We can do it!"

_Hang on TK, I gotta solve this first,_ Matt thought as he looked out the window. _I will come back for you, I promise._

As the days passed, it seemed almost impossible that Matt would be able to keep his promise. It seemed that nothing could go right in the kitchen, and all the accidents would be Joe's fault in some way or another. Matt did his best not to get too irritated with Joe, and thinking that if this is how Joe was with another person to help, it was a miracle he hadn't seriously injured himself yet. If he were to leave, Joe would probably end up with a knife in his foot, or boiling was down his front, or he would trip and crack his head open on a table.

Matt shivered slightly, thinking about everything that could go wrong when someone with extreme bad luck was released into a kitchen. Joe, on the other hand, was having a mild panic attack as he studied how tense Matt was.

"Boy oh boy! I don't understand why I'm so accident prone," he started to babble. "Okay, so balancing plates on a platter is not one of my natural skills, but now it seems worse than ever. Sorry Matt."

_Look at me, I'm falling apart. And why am I talking to myself? Even worse, why am I listening and talking back? I've got to do something to snap out of this._

The tray of plates that Joe was holding in his hands, that was shaking even worse than his hands were, suddenly tumbled to the floor and shattered. Joe stared at the mess and moaned even as he spotted Matt spinning around in alarm.

"That did it, I snapped," Joe announced as he leant back against the wall. He had no idea why Matt wanted to stay at all, all he did was make a mess of everything.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Matt told him in a strained tone of voice. He was tense, but he couldn't take it out on Joe. Still, he couldn't help but complain to himself in silence.

_Half of what I cook ends up on the floor, and the other half is on his clothes. This job is giving me a killer headache. Tell me this all just a bad dream._

The two digimon were watching the two humans in concern. They were all tired, but the digimon had a reason to maintain hope. A day after Matt arrived at the restaurant, Agumon's presence had gotten stronger which meant that he had gotten back from wherever he had been. Tokomon had also digivolved into Patamon, and Jade had made a brief appearance to their senses before taking off again.

"Do you think they'll be coming here soon?" Gomamon asked as they started to clean up the mess that the digimon customers had made in the dining room.

"I hope so," Gabumon said quietly. "Matt and Joe can't handle this for much longer. They'll either get seriously hurt, or their friendship will fall apart. Has Joe always been this clumsy?"

"He worries, and the more he worries the less coordination he has," Gomamon replied as he slid across the floor to mop it. "But this…this is more than normal clumsiness."

Both digimon suddenly froze as a new person made an appearance in their minds. Grins spread across their faces before they could help themselves and they looked to the windows. Gabumon walked across first and tried to look for their Sovereign, but couldn't see her.

"Is she there?"

"No, I can't see her."

"Get back to work you two!"

Gabumon and Gomamon launched back into cleaning as Vegimon roared at them. They would just have to look for her once they stopped for the night.

* * *

That night, the group of four stopped working with obvious relief and went their separate ways to relax. Matt wanted to spend some time on his own by the lake, and after he left the sound of his harmonica reached the others. Joe found a nice tree to lean against before passing out from exhaustion. This left Gomamon and Gabumon to go for a walk unhindered to search for Jade.

"What are you doing working in a restaurant?"

The two digimon looked up in delight as Jade's voice echoed from the trees. She partly hidden in the shadows, but the two red eyes on her shoulder made the digimon nervous. The eyes soon disappeared, and it looked like Jade was watching them go, before she leapt from the tree and landed on the ground in front of them. Gomamon leapt into her arms with a cry of delight, and Gabumon wrapped his arms around her waist with equal joy.

"Where'd you go? Did you find your partner? Why were you gone so long? Have you seen the others? Did you know that Agumon and Tai are back in the Digital World? Can you make Digitamamon let Joe and Matt stop working? How long are you staying? What was on your shoulder before? Where did it go?"

The questions bubbled out of Gomamon's mouth in one great big rush and didn't stop until Jade placed her hand over his mouth. Gabumon flicked his ear in annoyance and led them over to a tree so that they could all sit down and remain out of the way of anyone passing by.

"I went after my partner, you know that, he missed me a lot and at first didn't recognise me," she started to explain. "We fought for a bit before going to the Shadow World to see what damage he had done in the time I was gone. He's looking at a lot of work in the future to rebuild that world. I've been watching over all of you when I could, and I saw Tai and Agumon return safely. They're with TK and Patamon at the moment and are making their way here."

"Matt will be happy to hear that," Gabumon muttered as he leant against Jade's side. The humans weren't the only ones tired with their work schedules.

"I'm sure he will. They should be here tomorrow or the day after," Jade told him. "In regards to Digitamamon, I personally wouldn't be able to influence him as he is serving the darkness at the moment, but I know someone who may have a chance of convincing him to let your partners go. I will stay as long as I can, but I am tracking a rogue digimon and as soon as he appears I will be going after him. My partner was on my shoulder, he went off to watch our quarry while I talk to you. Any more questions?"

"Your partner felt cold," Gomamon told her seriously.

"Of course he did," Jade told him with a laugh. "He is the ruler of the Shadow World and the physical embodiment of darkness. His digi-egg is pure black, and Gennai and Lucemon were convinced that he was pure evil and should have been killed before he hatched. I convinced them to let him live, and he knows this. His loyalty belongs to me, and only me, and he hates all other digimon. Apathy is the best emotion you could get from him. If he doesn't dislike you, it means that he will tolerate your presence for as long as you don't irritate him."

"Doesn't sound like a very likeable digimon," Gabumon observed.

"That's because he's not. He protects the darkness of the Shadow World, and due to his negligence he has allowed the darkness to take root in this world because they couldn't live in the Shadow World. The only ones who could tolerate him in the long-term, aside from myself, are the dark creatures of the universe."

"But how can you stand him?" Gomamon asked curiously. "You always reacted badly to the Black Gears, and Etemon's Dark Network."

"Tom was born from me, he is the darkness of my soul living separately."

"What?" the two digimon asked.

"When I was a baby, a human in my world tried to kill me and failed. A part of his soul latched onto me and would have eventually taken over me if I hadn't been brought here. His soul shard was removed from me, and when it left it took all the darkness in me. So because he is a part of me I can stand his presence, just as he can stand mine. Normally, being in the Digital World without me with him causes him pain, just as me being in the Shadow World without him would cause me pain."

"So you need each other?" Gomamon asked.

"Yes. Now, go back to the others and keep them safe."

"You're leaving now?" Gabumon asked sorrowfully. "The others don't blame you anymore, you know?"

"I know, but you guys are fighting only a small part of the Digital World. I have to look after all of it. I will see you before I go, I promise."

Gabumon and Gomamon watched as Jade scurried back into the tree before she leapt across the branches into the growing darkness. Once she was gone from sight they started to trek back to the restaurant.

"I don't think I like her partner," Gomamon said just before they reached the clearing where Joe was still unconscious.

"Maybe not, but it's obvious she loves him," Gabumon told him. "Go to sleep. It'll be a busy day tomorrow."

"Goodnight Gabumon."

"Goodnight Gomamon."

* * *

Matt hadn't played his harmonica for a while, and it was only as he was playing it now that he realised how much he had missed it. He used it as coping mechanism, and it calmed him down. He loved to create music, and one day he was going to form a band and play music for a living. He would show everyone just how powerful music was.

"That's a beautiful sound."

"Huh? Where'd you come from?" Matt asked after jumping at the sudden appearance of a little digimon that looked like a bat.

"I was just passing by when I heard the sound of your music," the digimon explained. "You're very good. I'm a bat-digimon, we have good hearing and it sounds as if you're worried about something."

"How could you tell?" Matt asked curiously.

"A musical instrument often reflects the person playing it. Your music sounds sad, so I figure that you're sad about something. I wonder if you're hurting yourself to help out a friend."

"And how would you know?" Matt asked him, turning so that he was once again looking out at the lake.

"Well, it's obvious what's happening at the restaurant," the sheepish answer was. Then the voice turned mischievous. "I see what your friend is up to."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think he's making all those mistakes on purpose."

Matt's eyes went wide. Sure, he had thought about it for a heartbeat, but Joe was a reliable person and would never do something so underhanded as sabotaging his hard work. Joe didn't want to stay at the restaurant any more than Matt did.

"He can't be!"

"Just so you won't leave him there alone," the digimon continued. It was almost hypnotising how his voice would speak Matt's deepest fears.

"Not him," Matt muttered. "Joe just wouldn't do that to me."

"Humph, you're a nice guy," the digimon decided. "But remember, nice guys end up washing dishes for the rest of their lives!"

The digimon flew off into the night, leaving Matt alone with more worries than he had had previously. He considered playing his harmonica again, but he didn't think it would calm him down any more tonight.

"Joe? Can't be…or could it?"

He would just have to watch his friend in the morning.

* * *

"Slimy little weasel," Tom hissed as Jade joined him on the branch he was on. He was watching Demidevimon talk to Matt. "Waste of digi-space. I wouldn't have this much of a headache if I could just delete you."

"You know that I don't want him to be deleted," Jade told him as she made herself comfy. "What's he doing?"

"Turning Friendship against Reliability," Tom muttered. "It's almost disgusting how easy it was to do as well."

"They're under a lot of stress."

"No excuse."

"You turned against me."

"You left me."

"Not by choice."

"…fine," Tom sighed. "What's your plan? If Demidevimon's plan works Friendship's power would disappear and your Protectors would be helpless against the evil darkness."

"Courage and Hope should be here tomorrow," Jade told him, watching as Demidevimon chose that moment to fly away. "Everything will work out once they're together again. I'm sure of it."

"You're not going to interfere?"

"What type of ruler would I be if I interfered with every little thing that plagues them?" Jade asked him as she picked him up and put him across her shoulders again. "I talked to the digimon so that they would stay strong, but the bond that holds the digidestined together must be maintained by the digidestined…not me. I can't make them be friends."

"You don't sound like a nine year old," Tom grumbled as she started to run through the trees after Demidevimon.

"I have the power and memories of the previous Guardian of Truth, and the guidance of Lucemon to fall back on. I have your knowledge to bounce ideas off of, and it's not like I've had much time to be a child."

"If you take me back to the Human World with you I can make it so that you never have to go back to those humans who call themselves your relatives."

"I can handle it," Jade told him.

"You die in the Human World and you won't be coming back again," Tom warned. "And it's not like you have a successor."

"You are worrying way too much," Jade told him sternly. "Stop it. If I am in trouble, now that I have my memories back, I will just run away to this world to escape them."

Tom said nothing more, and instead turned his red eyes towards Demidevimon. He had a suspicion about who the bat's master was, and he wanted to have first dibs.

* * *

"Listen, I promise you I'll come right back! You just have to let me go and get my little brother!" Matt begged the following morning as Digitamamon came into the kitchen to check on their progress. It had been days, and Matt really wanted to go after TK before his imagination of the worst happening drove him insane.

"No, I can't do that," Digitamamon denied him

"Please! It's really important!"

"No!" the digimon snapped. "Now get cooking before the customers start complaining!"

Matt really wished that Digitamamon had a neck so that he could strangle him, but before he could think too much about it there was a loud crash from behind him and even without looking he knew that Joe had just broken something else. Digitamamon's non-existent neck was suddenly replaced by Joe's in his mind and he really wanted to shake some sense into him.

"Not more plates!" Digitamamon cried. "That's another week for the both of you!"

"What are you talking about?" Matt growled in anger. "I can't stay here another week. I've got places to go!"

"You will stay, alright! And no tips!"

Digitamamon left the kitchen and Matt sunk to the ground as he stared at the mess of broken plates scattered across the kitchen. Maybe Joe was really doing it all on purpose? Maybe his desire that Matt was to stay with him overrode his desire to get out of his debt?

"Joe, why are you doing this?" he asked hopelessly.

"You think I'm doing this on purpose?" Joe demanded of him. "You think I'm juggling plates while I wash them? Something tripped me!"

"Quit making up excuses!" Matt snapped at him as he stood up.

"I'm not!" Joe cried back. Matt huffed his disbelief before walking outside before he could say something that he would probably regret later. From behind him he heard Joe's parting comment, and he felt like the biggest jerk in the world.

"You've got to believe me, Matt."

Gabumon subtly pushed Gomamon out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Chances were that if Tai and TK came into the restaurant, it would be by the front door instead of the kitchen. That didn't mean that they would be happy while they cleaned, even if the restaurant was currently empty. At one stage they had gotten hopeful when the door opened, but instead of their friends a small black feline-type digimon waltzed through the door and the two of them felt a chill rush down their backs. The red eyes of the kitten frightened them, and they both froze in what they were doing. All the digimon did, however, was jump up onto the table at the back corner of the restaurant and watch them with his unblinking red eyes.

Gabumon was the only one brave enough, or suicidal enough, to go over and ask for what the digimon would like to eat. The digimon said nothing, but his stare convinced Gabumon that it would be best if he went back to what he was doing and ignore the cat in the corner. Gomamon looked at him in concern, but at the shake of his head, Gomamon went back to what he was doing. The only stop that Gabumon made was to the kitchen to grab a bowl of soup that Matt had made before storming out and place it in front of the cat.

There were no "thanks", but Gabumon wasn't expecting it.

A few minutes later the doors swung open again and the group they were waiting for entered the restaurant. Tai, Agumon, TK and Patamon stopped just inside the door as they recognised the two digimon cleaning up.

"Gomamon!" Tai cried in delight.

"Gabumon!" TK cried at the same time.

"TK!" Gomamon cheered.

"And Tai!" Gabumon finished. They were both so happy now. They were sure that Tai or TK would be able to get their partners away from the restaurant.

"If you're here then my brother must be here too!" TK said as he hugged Gabumon around the neck.

"And Joe must be here too, right pal?" Tai asked as he looked at Gomamon. There was a smile on his face, but his eyebrows were furrowed as he recognised the exhaustion the two had.

"Yeah, he's here, but…" Gomamon trailed off, his eyes looking towards the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Tai asked. TK released Gabumon and looked at Gomamon in concern. Agumon and Patamon moved forward so that they could greet their friends, and Gabumon couldn't help the quick once over he gave Agumon to make sure that he was alright. Agumon nodded, but when Gabumon gave the same once over on Tai he noticed the stiff way that Tai held his arm. His eyes flicked back to Agumon who nodded again with a sad look in his eyes.

"Joe can tell you about it," Gomamon told Tai as he led them to the kitchen before Digitamamon or Vegimon could spot them. Tai followed him, allowing the others to follow him.

"What happened to his arm?" Gabumon asked in a hushed whisper so no one else could hear him.

"That's what Datamon did you him in the pyramid," Agumon hissed back.

"But that was weeks ago!"

"It was only a few days for us," Agumon corrected. "We'll explain it all later."

Gabumon nodded before speeding up a little to catch up with the others. He only glanced back once and was surprised to see that their only customer had disappeared, leaving behind just an empty bowl.

"Joe?" Tai asked as soon as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Tai! I'm so glad to see you guys!" Joe cried. He rushed over and pulled Tai into a hug before pulling back and ruffling TK's hair. "But don't break anything."

"Sure, but, what are you doing here?" Tai asked as he hid the wince Joe's sudden hug had caused when he bumped his arm.

"Hey Joe, it's great to see you, but where's Matt?" TK interrupted before Joe could answer.

"Oh, um, Matt's around back," Joe told him. TK smiled brightly and rushed off with Patamon, calling out to his brother as he did so.

"So, what are you doing here?" Tai asked again.

"It's a really long story that I don't want to go into right now," Joe admitted.

"Great, do you have your medical stuff with you?" Agumon asked instantly. Tai closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"It's under the sink," Joe told him. "Why?"

"Tai needs a splint on his arm."

"Tai?"

"I'm fine Joe," Tai told him. "My arm just needs to be kept immobile for a while, and a splint is the best way to do it. I would have done it myself, but I didn't have the right things to make one."

"There are plenty of cloths here that I can use as a bandage," Joe mused as he took Tai's arm into his hands. Tai bit back the curse that he wanted to utter. He hadn't been prepared for Joe to grab it. Still, he couldn't stop the blood draining from his face.

"I need some long sticks to brace this," Joe said, though his eyes were serious as he looked at Tai and his complexion. "Do I want to know how you got this?"

"Datamon did it," Agumon explained.

Joe's eyes widened in alarm, he thought about how long Tai had been using a broken arm without a splint or a cast to support it. Tai waved off his concern and walked outside. He needed to see Matt with his own eyes before they did anything about escaping from this place. He saw TK just outside the door looking up at him with reproach in his eyes. Tai just smiled and pushed him towards Matt who was reclined on the ground staring at the sky. TK bounced over, but not before one last sad glance at Tai.

"Hi-ya Matt!" TK said as he moved into Matt's line of sight.

"TK!" Matt cried in shock before his expression became one of joy and relief.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" TK told him as he hugged him tightly.

"Hey kid, are you okay?" Matt asked as he sat up.

"I'm great now that we're together again!" TK told him. "Tai told me that you were fine."

"So where's Tai?" Matt asked, curious about when Tai had made it back to the Digital World, and where he had gone.

"Hey Matt," Tai greeted as soon as Matt saw him.

"Alright! There you are!" Matt cheered. He quickly studied the boy and frowned when he noticed that he seemed rather rundown. There was also the way that he held his arm, and Joe's concerned expression when he appeared behind Tai, which made Matt aware that Tai was far from 100% healthy.

"So, seems like something weird is going on around here," Tai understated.

"Yeah, you can say that we got ourselves into some hot water," Matt informed him with a serious expression. That made Tai smile.

"Oh, a cooking joke." Matt smiled at him as well before looking back down at TK who hadn't moved from his side.

"I'm really sorry I didn't come back and keep my promise to get you TK."

"That's alright, I'm sure you would have if you could have Matt," TK forgave.

"Anyhow, you're here and that's what counts."

"You know, what counts is that we get out of this weirdo place and quick," Tai told them seriously.

"What? Run away?" Gabumon asked incredulously.

"Of course run away," Tai told him. "I don't see any guards around here."

Once he said it, it seemed so obvious that that's what they should have done. Digitamamon would probably make more money once they were gone as they wouldn't be breaking any more dishes or wasting food, and if they didn't want to work why did they have to stay at all? Sure, Joe was acting weird and Matt still wasn't 100% positive that Joe wasn't deliberately sabotaging his work.

"Before we go anywhere I need to put a splint on that arm Tai," Joe interrupted their leader's planning. "You could damage it even more."

"Fine," Tai sighed. "Tell me what to do."

"Sit on this step and don't move," Joe ordered him. "Honestly, walking around for weeks with a broken arm."

"It's broken?" TK asked. "I thought it was just sore and he wasn't telling us."

"It's broken," Joe told him. "Can you find me two long sticks TK? They need to be straight."

"I can do that! Come on Patamon!"

As TK ran off Matt stood up and walked over to the other two boys. Gabumon darted inside with Agumon at Joe's request to grab some clean towels, but Gomamon sat next to Tai and stared at his arm. Matt knelt next to Tai without saying anything, but he could tell that the other boy was uncomfortable with how many people were around him.

"That arm band is probably keeping the bones roughly aligned," Joe muttered as he accepted several towels and began to tear them into strips. "You can keep it on, though the arm may get hot after a while."

Tai sighed in relief, which intrigued Matt but didn't faze Joe. When TK came back with a collection of sticks Joe selected two and expertly put Tai's arm into a splint. Tai didn't make a noise of complaint, though his face had gone pale. TK was telling Gabumon and Gomamon how his crest had glowed and Patamon had defeated a lying digimon who wanted to make them forget each other.

"Okay, that should do it," Joe announced as he leant back. Tai looked at his arm and smiled at Joe gratefully.

"Let's go then!" TK cried as he stood up. Patamon was sitting on his hat and at their trusting expressions Tai stood up in agreement and started to walk away from the restaurant. Joe started after them without any hesitation, but Matt paused on the steps. He had so many doubts in his mind, and he wasn't sure he wanted to travel with them. Sure, he had been relieved to see that Tai was alive, and he wanted to know if the others were alright as well, but that digimon had made him doubt his friends.

"Well, well, well, you weren't planning on running away now were you? That would make me very angry."

The group turned in time to see Digitamamon make his appearance from the side of the restaurant. Matt groaned in annoyance, he really disliked this digimon.

"Yes, that would be a very bad idea," Demidevimon said from the trees nearest to the others.

"Hey, isn't that…" Joe began as he looked at the little digimon.

"Him again!" TK shouted in anger.

"Demidevimon!" Patamon growled with equal anger.

"It's the evil digimon we met before!" Agumon stated and suddenly everything clicked into place.

"You lied!" Matt shouted.

"You lied to me to get me to come here," Joe added. "And you're the one that's wrecking everything!"

Now Matt felt like more of a jerk than ever. Demidevimon was the one breaking everything? And then he had the nerve to come up to him and say that Joe was doing it on purpose. That lousy, no good, lying digimon!

"So we're going to teach you a good lesson!" Tai decided. Agumon and Patamon both attacked him eagerly, but when they missed Demidevimon flew away. "After him guys!"

Agumon, Tai and Patamon rushed off after Demidevimon and left the others standing around with Digitamamon glaring at them.

"How dishonest!" he hissed at them. "Trying to leave without paying me."

"You're a thief!" Matt yelled at him. "We've worked here long enough to pay for a trip to Hawaii!"

"Hawaii is not on the schedule, but if you insist I'll send you to the moon!" Digitamamon started to grow in size until he was taller than Matt. Of course, as he was closest to Matt he attacked him straight away and it was only through Matt's ability to dodge that he missed most of the charge. As it was he was clipped and he crashed to the ground in annoyance. He wasn't hurt, but the attack had annoyed him.

"Matt!" Gabumon called in dismay.

"You want to leave you have to beat me first!" Digitamamon told them. Matt nodded at his partner and soon Gabumon was digivolving into Garurumon. The giant wolf wasted no time in rushing after Digitamamon, but it was as he was attacking that the bystanders understood that they were in trouble. Nothing seemed to put a dent in Digitamamon's shell, and the egg-digimon had no problem causing damage to his opponents.

"Garurumon!" Matt cried in horror as Garurumon went flying into the side of the building. He was ready to rush after him when another cry echoed from behind him. He spun around in panic.

"Matt!" TK cried.

"Call off your beast!" Vegimon ordered. The yellow digimon had wrapped TK up in his long arms and was dangling him high off the ground.

"Matt! Help me!" TK begged.

"How nice, your little brother decided to hang around!" Digitamamon laughed cruelly before attacking Garurumon again.

"Matt! Somebody! Get me down!" TK continued to beg. He was clearly terrified, and Patamon was off hunting Demidevimon with Tai and Agumon.

"That's going too far! I've had it!" Joe hissed. Gomamon nodded up at him before digivolving into Ikkakumon. Ikkakumon poked Vegimon with his horn while Joe climbed up onto the roof of the restaurant. While he was doing that Tai reappeared having left the attacking to the digimon, and he alone saw what Joe was doing.

"Joe, be careful," he ordered under his breath.

_Reliability will be fine,_ Jade's voice whispered in his mind. _Friendship needs you now._

Tai nodded and slowly started to make his way around the fight so that he could get to Matt.

"Back off fur-ball or the kid's lunchmeat!" Vegimon told Ikkakumon.

"Stop that!" Matt ordered Vegimon as TK cried out again from the rough handling. Being shaken like a rag doll upside down was definitely not high on Matt's list of priorities. Vegimon turned to snap at Matt but before he could Joe leapt from the roof and crashed into Vegimon. In the scuffle TK fell to the ground, uninjured, but Joe had taken his place as hostage. But where TK had only been held from his ankle, Joe was wrapped up from shoulders to knees so that there was no chance he could escape.

"Joe! He's caught!" TK said in alarm as Matt came up behind him and wrapped him into a hug.

"Joe!" Matt called.

"Matt, you were right," Joe told him just as Vegimon squeezed. Joe grunted from the sudden pain but continued regardless. "You always said that we would all have to work together to get out of this mess. Now, it looks like my turn."

"Matt, we've got to help him!" TK yelled as he looked up at his brother.

"Go on Ikkakumon, blast them now!" Joe ordered.

"Tell your friend that I'm a very short tempered Vegimon!" Vegimon told Joe as he dodged Ikkakumon.

"Do it Joe!" Matt begged.

"No!" Joe told him. "You've got to attack while I keep him busy. Attack! I'm fine!"

_Oh, man. After I accused him and doubted him…he still risked himself for TK,_ Matt thought. He couldn't believe that he had ever doubted the boy in front of him. He was a true friend, and as Matt had told him earlier, friends help each other when they need help. And Joe needed help.

"Joe…NOOO!" Matt screamed as Joe let out a gasp of pain. His crest suddenly lit up and he looked at it in shock. Ikkakumon had meanwhile rushed off to help Garurumon deal with Digitamamon, without much success.

"I see you two don't know when to quit," Digitamamon told them both. "I'll destroy you both with one shot! _Nightmare syndrome!_"

A black mass of something came out of the gap in Digitamamon's shell where his eyes normally were and wrapped up both Champion level digimon. The black mass formed a ball around the digimon, before spitting them both out on the ground. They were groaning, so whatever the ball had done it had shaken them up.

"No, this is bad," TK muttered. "They're too strong!"

"We can't…just give up! We've got to beat them!" Matt cried. Tai darted up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder in support. Matt looked at him and nodded his appreciation. He looked back to the fight where Garurumon was forcing himself to his feet. They could beat this egg.

_But I can't beat them alone,_ Matt thought._ I need Tai, TK, Sora, Izzy, Mimi and Joe! Together we're strong!_

"And we can beat anything!" he said aloud. "Garurumon!"

Garurumon stood up as Matt's crest started to glow even brighter. Power rushed through him and he knew what he could do.

"Garurumon digivolve to – Weregarurumon!"

Weregarurumon looked just like a werewolf in pants with spiked gloves and knee-guards. He stood on his two hind legs, and with his front claws held up, he looked beyond formidable.

"Coming up: one scrambled egg!" Matt joked as he held his glowing digivice. Tai pulled TK back a little so that they could watch without getting in the way.

"You and your little doggy don't frighten me!" Digitamamon told him as Weregarurumon stepped up to fight._ "Nightmare syndrome!_"

The black mass shot towards Weregarurumon, but instead of wrapping him up in whatever horror it produced, Weregarurumon caught it and sent right back towards Digitamamon. The attack hit him in the face and when he stood up again it was with a lot less confidence than earlier.

"Impossible," he breathed.

"That was just the beginning you little poacher!" Matt told him.

"Again with the egg jokes," Tai muttered. TK giggled.

Weregarurumon charged, and this time no amount of egg armour could protect Digitamamon and he was sent flying over the hills and away from the restaurant. TK cheered, and so did Joe who was still hanging in Vegimon's hands.

"They…beat Digitamamon!" Vegimon stuttered.

"Time for me to fly!" Demidevimon announced. He took off into the air, and no one noticed the black shadow following him through the trees.

"Well, he's gone!" Agumon said as he dusted off his hands in exaggeration.

"Vegimon, you better let go of him!" Matt ordered as he turned towards their last opponent.

"Unless you want to be salad?" Weregarurumon suggested. Vegimon, very wisely, put Joe on the ground and ran away.

"Yay! Wow, that was so cool Matt!" TK cheered as he threw his arms around his brother's waist. "You're the awesomest big brother!"

The digimon de-digivolved: Ikkakumon into Gomamon and Weregarurumon into Tsunomon. Tai walked over to where Joe was picking himself off the ground and bumped his shoulder with a grin.

"I gotta hand it to you Joe," he said. "That was really brave."

"All I did was get grabbed," Joe told him as his face flushed red.

"By a giant vegetable," Gomamon corrected.

"A cranky one," Tsunomon added. The two of them laughed.

"Ah, Joe?" Matt began hesitantly.

"Huh?" Joe said with a blink. He took in how embarrassed Matt appeared to be and remained silent as he waited for the other boy to talk.

"I'm really proud…how you handled the situation."

"At my old school, I was voted most likely to chicken out," Joe told him in an effort to defuse the tension. "I guess we showed them."

"I also need to apologise."

"Why, Matt?"

"Because I…I never should have doubted you Joe."

Tai started to laugh, and instantly the tension was gone.

* * *

Jade had waited until the end of the battle to follow Tom, but when she did it was just in time to see Demidevimon activate a portal of some kind to a dark throne room where a black silhouette was perched. From the way that Tom had sunk his talons into the tree they were hiding in she knew that he recognised the silhouette.

"Myotismon! One of the humans got the crest of Friendship to glow and called on Weregarurumon," Demidevimon explained pathetically.

"What?!" Myotismon roared. A cloud of bats burst forth from the portal and surrounded Demidevimon even as he tried to explain what had happened, and what he had done.

"I tried, but –"

"Perhaps your brain is too small for this job?" Myotismon asked him just before the portal closed. The only sound that came from the clearing was Demidevimon's curses.

"You rotten kids and you rotten digimon! You'll pay for this!"

Jade gently pulled Tom's talons from the tree without hurting him and thought about what it meant for Myotismon to be involved in this most recent plot. This dark digimon seemed intent on stopping the crests from glowing, which meant that he was aware of the role of the digidestined in the Digital World. He was also a product of Tom's, but where Tom had fallen into insanity, the evil that had helped in Tom's birth had been transferred to Myotismon. So they were up against a digimon who was not only intelligent, but one who had no problem killing people or digimon to get what he wanted.

"Explain to me when exactly Myotismon defected, and what you think his plans are," she requested.

So Tom did.

* * *

With Digitamamon and Vegimon gone the digidestined were able to linger and take their time in escaping the restaurant. Joe wanted Tai to wear a sling, but Tai told him that under no circumstance would he wear something that would make it difficult to travel. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to win, Joe stopped asking him to wear one, but he did take a couple of extra towels from the restaurant in case he needed to redo the splint or someone else got hurt.

Tai told the small group about his return to the Human World, and how no time had passed since they left. He told them about the digimon who were crossing over and causing damage, and how he had only been gone for just over three hours. They didn't ask about the shoes that he had on his belt, and Tai hadn't told them about the aspirin he had brought along, but they were all worried about the implications of not being able to go home until all the evil was undone.

"Our first plan of attack should be to get everyone back together," Tai told them to cheer them up. "We still need Mimi, Izzy and Sora."

"And Jade," Matt added with a frown. He thought that Tai would have said her first.

"She has stuff to do before she can join us again, but she is watching out for us," Tai told him.

"She was here yesterday," Gabumon added helpfully. "She told us that you guys were close, and that she and her partner were tracking someone."

"Creepy little guy he is," Gomamon added. "If anything, he looks scary in the daytime."

"When did you see him?" Agumon asked.

"He was in the restaurant when you guys arrived," Gabumon told him. "And then he was gone when we went into the kitchen."

"You know, maybe Jade thought that he could talk some sense into Digitamamon, you know, into letting us go?" Gomamon suggested. "She did say that she would see if someone else could talk to him instead of her."

"But we managed to get out on our own," Joe reminded him.

"So Jade's partner didn't have to do anything," Gomamon told him. "It could be a good thing. He was scary."

"She called him Tom, remember?" Gabumon told him. "We can't just keep calling him 'Jade's partner'."

"I have no problem with that."

The digimon screamed as a new voice appeared, this one just oozing darkness. Goosebumps appeared on their arms and Matt pushed TK behind him protectively.

"Oh please, like I would be able to get away with attacking you," the black digimon that had been in the restaurant earlier remarked. "And don't call me 'Tom'. I am the Lord of Darkness, you will address me as such, or as 'Jade's partner' unless I tell you otherwise."

"You're Jade's partner?" TK asked as he looked around Matt's body. "Nice to meet you! I'm TK."

"Charmed," the kitten drawled. "Well, you're not completely useless, I'll give you that much. I'm still not impressed, but as my Master has some fondness for you, I shall leave you with this warning: hurt her and there won't be a single world you can hide in where I won't find you and end your miserable existence. You are supposed to protect her, but from what I hear she is doing more protecting of you than the other way round."

"Yes, My Lord," Tai told him completely serious with a bow. "We will protect her with everything we have."

"Hmm," Tom mused as he flicked his tail in the dirt. "You may just prove to be tolerable. Now, shoo! I have important business here and you are in the way."

Tai nodded again and pushed the others further down the path. They followed him instantly, but they were all curious. The digimon, before following, all bowed as much as they could to Tom before rushing off. Jade stepped out from behind the tree she was hiding behind and frowned at Tom.

"Was that necessary?" she asked.

"Oh yes," he told her as he leapt into her arms. "They need to know that you are important, and that their job involves protecting you. Now, when you are with them again and I am not, you will be safe."

"And there are those who call you cold hearted and evil," Jade said with a smile. "You're just too sweet to me."

Tom blushed but otherwise didn't make any other comment.

Further up the path Matt was trying to get Tai to explain why he was being overly respectful to the creepy cat. The digimon were on Tai's side and explained to Matt that the Lord of Darkness was the one that Gennai was afraid of.

"That little cat has the power to destroy this world?" Matt questioned them.

"His only equal is the Sovereign," Tsunomon stated. "Don't judge him by his appearance. He could digivolve easily and level this land as easily as Demidevimon tricked us."

"The only person or digimon that the Lord of Darkness will listen to, is Jade," Tai added. "If he decided that we weren't doing our job to protect her, he could very well decide to kill us all. If bowing to him, and agreeing with his demands keeps us alive and Jade safe, I will do it. Besides, couldn't you feel the darkness coming off him? I felt dizzy the moment he appeared."

"We could feel it," Agumon told him. "But we're digimon so we can sense the changes in the air."

"I couldn't feel it," TK told him.

"Neither could I," Matt added.

"I had goosebumps," Joe admitted.

"So, he's dangerous then?" Matt clarified. "We'll just stay on his good side. Easy enough. Now, to more important matters, which way should we go?"

They had come to a fork in the road, and it was unclear as to which path would lead them to their friends. Tai pulled out his digivice and held it up, and Matt copied him. Both digivices beeped, but both in opposite directions.

"Well, I guess we're splitting up again," Tai observed. "Joe and I will go up this way."

"Alright," Matt agreed. "TK and I will go left then."

"Just so we don't lose each other," Tai suggested. "Let's meet at the foot of that mountain when we find the others. Sound good?"

"Deal," Matt said with a nod. "See you in a few days!"

Tai waved as they disappeared and pulled Joe after him as they went along the right-hand path. He had no idea who they were going after, but he did know that it was important that they get back together. The Lord of Darkness had pretty much told them that they were meant to be together, and Tai would do anything to ensure that they were all safe. Now he just needed to find them all.

* * *

**This chapter was long, but I want the digidestined to go home soon so the next chapter will be even longer. It's almost finished, but I just haven't got the ending right yet. You guys are awesome and I love you all. To my reviewers who asked questions, here are my answers:**

**KhaalidaNyx: The ages of the digidestined: Tai-11, Matt-11, Izzy-10, Sora-11, Mimi-10, Joe-12, TK-8 and Jade-9. And no, they are not physically aging because time in the Human World has basically stopped for them. If they were there for a few centuries they would age like Gennai did, but they won't so they haven't. Emotionally however, they are aging a lot.**

**Impstar: I will do my best. Two more chapers and the kids will be home, I promise.**

**Liedral: Yes, yes, yes, and no. It's like when she was fighting the digimon with the Black Gears. Leomon remarked that he could have listened to her all day, but the Black Gears inside him her voice was like nails down a chalkboard. The stronger the dark digimon, the weaker Jade would feel, just as the stronger she is (so whether she is human or Phoenixmon) the greater impact she has against the dark digimon.**

**il2swim57: I have a plan for them and they won't be excluded. I have digimon planned for them, but not all of them will have crests. For her House, it's a surprise (*wink*). And I only intend to go to the end of season 2 at the moment, the amount that I have planned will probably ensure this story goes for a while. We'll see about the other seasons if I want to link them together. At the moment, no. Curiosity is a good thing.**

**allie1207: Yep, Tomomon is a cat. Think of a male version of Gatomon without the tail ring and a forked tail. And red eyes, don't forget the red eyes.**

**SilverDragon-Purity: Yes, you'll see, I do remember (and I have a plan for it), the digimon didn't stay there permanently, he will get his soul pieces back, the Triwizard Tournament is up in the air at the moment and won't happen until season 2 is definitely finished, the prophecy will be a part of this story, and Tom's fate is undecided so far. **

**Keep up the awesomeness my readers!**

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 18: Inner Powers ~ Izzy and Mimi**_


	18. Inner Powers - Izzy and Mimi

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. He was pulled into the Human World where he realised no time had passed since they were first sent to the Digital World. Despite how much Tai wanted to stay, he knew he couldn't and foundhis way back to the Digital World._

_In the Digital World, the digidestined separated. Jade ran from them first and was finally reunited with her digimon partner who she calls Tom, no matter was digivolution he is in. In Jade's absence from his life, Tom went insane and destroyed the world that he ruled. It is also revealed that Tom was once a human, who tried to kill Jade when she was a baby, but when that failed his soul latched onto her. The shard was removed from Jade when she was first pulled into the Digital World, and that was how Tom was born._

_Tai and Agumon have found TK, Matt and Joe and now they are working towards finding the others, because they need to fight together to win, or they would lose._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 18: Inner Powers ~ Izzy and Mimi

* * *

Along the left-hand path, the path that Matt and TK had taken was the resident genius of the digidestined. Izzy and Tentomon hadn't been looking for Tai, or Jade, or anyone else since they had separated from the group. Their quest was to find the only other human they had come across in the Digital World…Gennai.

"This is extremely perplexing," Izzy stated as he looked around curiously. "We've been trying to find Gennai for over two months. Got any ideas Tentomon? We're walking in circles."

"We could walk in squares, but that's not likely to work either," Tentomon told him. "Let's take a breather and wait for _him_ to come to _us_."

"I prefer to take a more scientific approach to this problem," Izzy told him with a frown, pausing briefly on their upward climb of the mountain.

"Yes, but even scientists need to take a break!"

Izzy continued to walk, but over his shoulder he called his partner with a hint of annoyance in his voice:

"There's no time to rest so stop asking."

"Aww," Tentomon moaned. He still followed Izzy, but he was walking as his wings were tired.

"I'm absolutely certain that he's around here somewhere," Izzy told him several minutes later.

"I hope so for my feet's sake," Tentomon told him. Izzy smiled at him, but didn't catch the not so subtle hint that Tentomon wanted to stop for a few minutes to rest.

Tentomon thought about his partner as they continued to walk in silence. Once they had separated from the group Tentomon noticed that Izzy had become more relaxed. It wasn't that he had been tense around the others, more like he was always on guard in case something happened. He was happier on his own. It struck Tentomon as odd, because when he listened to the others talk it was like they were happier in a group instead of on their own. He wanted to ask Izzy why he didn't like the others, but he didn't think that was the right thing to say. Maybe it was just a human thing? Jade had started out like that, happier with the digimon than the humans, but she had grown to like hanging around with the humans eventually.

Tentomon was also concerned about Izzy's near obsession with finding Gennai, it wasn't healthy and he couldn't figure out why he was so desperate to find him. Anything that he wanted to ask the old man he could probably ask Jade and get the same answer.

"Why do you want to find Gennai so bad?" he eventually asked. Izzy blinked once before launching into an explanation.

"I'm curious to know why Gennai is so secretive. I want to discuss the merits of the crests with him." He pulled out his crest from under his clothes and stared at it curiously. "Jade said that this was the crest of Knowledge, but I want to know why the attribute is important. Why do we have crests, and do they do anything aside from help you digivolve and attract evil digimon? Where do the crests come from and are they related to how we came to be selected to save this world?"

"I like that about you Izzy, you have a never-ending thirst for information," Tentomon said as he thought about all of his partner's questions. "It's amazing your brain doesn't explode from all that knowledge."

"There are a lot more things I can learn," Izzy told him modestly as he put the crest under his shirt again.

"How much room do you have left in your brain?"

"As much as I need," the boy said with a smile. His eyes turned skyward. "I wonder where Gennai could be. With all my knowledge I still can't find him."

"Look Izzy! It's a sign!" Tentomon cried as he flew off. Izzy looked around rapidly.

"You mean from above?"

"No," Tentomon told him with an eye roll. "Here on the ground."

"How bizarre," Izzy mumbled as he read the words. "It says: BEWARE OF FALLING SLUDGE."

"Uh oh! This could get real ugly!" Tentomon moaned. His imagination created the image of the two of them buried under a pile of slimy, pink sludge. He shuddered and shook his head to rid himself of the image.

"Please tell it's just a dream?" he begged. "I say we go anywhere but this way."

"Yeah," Izzy agreed and turned down a different path. Unfortunately, it took them to another sign. "Oh no, there's another sign up ahead…bottomless sludge pit. Not a very pleasant experience."

Tentomon's imagination once again provided the image of falling endless with nothing but pink sludge around them and no hope of survival. He shook his head again and moaned aloud.

"I feel like I've been flushed. I hope I never see a sign for as long as I live!"

"Me too," Izzy told him fervently. Then he turned around and gaped at the multitude of signs scattered along every path that they could have otherwise traveled on. Tentomon moaned and sunk to the ground in hopelessness.

"Attack sludge? Impossible!" Izzy read off another sign.

"It's humiliating, being attacked by attack sludge!"

"There's such a thing as attack sludge?" Izzy asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah, they live in the sewers and provide the Numemon with their ammo."

"Hmm," Izzy sounded, not entirely convinced. He looked around with a frown. "There doesn't appear to be any place for us to go."

"We're surrounded by sludge!" Tentomon wailed hysterically. He stamped his foot in frustration, and cursed as the ground beneath them broke apart. The two of them screamed as they fell into the darkness, their voices echoing through the mountain around them.

* * *

"That sounded like Tentomon and Izzy," TK said worriedly as he and Matt froze. Matt nodded and looked for which direction it had come from. With the echo it was difficult to pinpoint it.

"It came from over there," he decided just as the light on his digivice died. He and TK looked at each other in worry. "We should hurry."

"I hope they're alright," TK stated as they ran.

"Of course they'll be fine," Matt told him.

"Yeah, Tentomon's there and there's nothing that can keep Tentomon down," Patamon added as he flew just ahead of the group.

"Still, we should go faster just in case they need us," TK told him. The others nodded and picked up their speed.

* * *

"Perfect! I got them! They don't have a chance!" Demidevimon cheered as he watched the duo fall into the pit. He had put all the signs up to lure the two to one spot, and they had fallen for his trap!

"I can't believe that it worked!"

* * *

"Now what do you plan on doing?" Tom asked as he cleaned his talons delicately, not interested in the fate of the human and his digimon.

"Do you know what's down there?" Jade asked curiously.

"Nope," Tom replied, popping his 'p'. "Nor do I care."

"So it doesn't bother you that Demidevimon is trying to steal the crests of my friends?"

"Nope," Tom repeated. "If they aren't strong enough to protect themselves, how will they be strong enough to protect you?"

"Then you can wait here," Jade told him as she put him down. "I'm going after Demidevimon to see what his plan is."

Tom nodded and curled up on a rock. When her back was turned he opened one eye and watched her slink off soundlessly. With a great sigh he stood up and followed her at a distance. He may not care about the digidestined, but he cared about her.

* * *

"There's no bottom to this pit!" Izzy cried in despair as they continued to fall.

"Well, that could work in our favor." Tentomon said positively. "It's a lot easier on your head that way if you ask me."

"Unfortunately, that's impossible," Izzy told him.

"Why is it impossible?" Tentomon asked.

"Because there's no scientific proof that it is possible!"

The two fell further, and Izzy grabbed a hold of Tentomon's arm. Tentomon did his best to fly them both back up to the receding sky, but he was small and not designed for carrying anything heavier than he himself was. They plummeted further.

"If we fall any further we'll be in –" Tentomon started to say

"-a very unpleasant place," a new voice finished.

"That's not good," Tentomon moaned. He held tighter to Izzy, he didn't trust this new voice.

"Does anyone need a lift?" the voice asked. Tentomon let out a startled yelp as a life-preserver wrapped around his waist. It did two things at the same time, the first being that it stopped him from falling, and the second was that it separated him from Izzy. Izzy had landed on a duck that looked like an enlarged version of a rubber ducky to use in the bathtub.

"Hey, what are these?" Izzy asked curiously as his hands grabbed the duck's head.

"I have temporarily given you a life raft. You see, all those who are greedy fall into the Pit."

"I'm not sure I comprehend what you're saying," Izzy called into the darkness. "What are you accusing us of being greedy for?"

"Why, that you know too much, of course," the voice told him. "You're sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong."

"What could possibly be wrong with gaining knowledge and information?" Izzy asked him incredulously.

"See, you're doing it again. You can't seem to stop yourself. You're headed straight for the Pit if you can't learn to control yourself."

"How come?" Izzy continued to ask.

"You don't even know that you're doing it!"

"I don't?"

"It's like a disease with you!" The duck Izzy was perched on popped and he started to fall again with a scream. "Oh well, nice knowing you."

"Don't worry Izzy! I'll save you! Give me your hand!" Tentomon ordered as he tried to fly closer to his falling partner. It was unlucky for him that the life-preserver prevented him from unfurling his wings, but he was still able to shoot through the air by moving his arms and legs in time to catch Izzy and prevent him from falling further.

"It's your decision, do you want to fall into the Pit?"

"No way!" Izzy cried, terrified. "Of course not!"

"That makes two of us!" Tentomon told him

"Then give up your curiosity to me!"

Tentomon froze in horror as the price of their safety was revealed. He couldn't let Izzy lose his curiosity.

"It appears I have no other choice," Izzy admitted after a few seconds of contemplation.

"But it's your curiosity I admire!" Tentomon told him as he desperately tried to figure out a way to get out of their predicament without giving anything up.

"What procedure should I utilize to keep us falling down to this Pit?"

"Stop asking questions!" the voice roared at Izzy. The life-preserver popped as well and the two were soon falling again.

"I won't, I won't!" Izzy promised as he fell. "I don't want to know!"

"That's more like it."

The two screamed, and just before they disappeared into darkness, Izzy's finally promise echoed up, followed by a blue sack.

"I don't want to know!"

* * *

Jade followed Demidevimon to a hole in the ground with what looked like a doorbell sticking out of it. She knew that Tom was following her, but she knew how to be silent when it was needed. She was worried about Izzy, he really wasn't a people person, but he was only a year older than her. He needed friends to support him, but _he_ also needed to realize that he needed friends. Knowledge was knowledge, but wisdom was _knowing_ when and how to use that knowledge at the right time.

She would bide her time until she could get into that hole without being seen.

* * *

"Well, we finally made it out but where are we now?" Tentomon asked as they stopped falling. If he didn't know better he would say that he was floating in outer space.

"Welcome, to my Universe," the voice once again echoed. Tentomon turned to look at where it originated from and saw a creepy looking digimon with half a dozen tentacles as legs, an extremely thin humanoid body, and a head that was too small for its brain as it was growing on the outside of his body. "I certainly hope you enjoy your stay."

Izzy bowed to the digimon but showed no desire to learn who it was that had trapped them so effectively.

"Izzy?" Tentomon asked in concern at the abnormal silence.

"I am Vademon, I designed this Universe," the digimon continued, ignoring Tentomon. "Pretty nice, don't you think? Your curiosity is in this sack, it's garbage, you don't need it. And I don't want it messing up my Universe. I just hate having clutter. If it's not needed, I sell it."

Vademon pulled out a small ray gun and shot the sack of Izzy's curiosity, removing it from sight. Tentomon gaped in dismay.

"Now that that's done, I want you to read my latest book," he continued as he threw a small blue book in Izzy's direction. "It's all you need to know."

"_All you need to know, whether you like it or not_," Izzy read in a monotone.

"It happens to be a best seller," Vademon told him before disappearing from sight. Izzy opened up the book and began to read in that same monotone as before. It sounded so wrong coming from Izzy's lips, as well as the words he was reading, that Tentomon could help but interrupt Izzy's reading.

"_In order to be one with the universe you must erase your thoughts_," Izzy read.

"But your thoughts make up who you are," Tentomon told him. "You mustn't erase them."

"_It is important to breathe into your thoughts until they disintegrate into mush_."

"I've heard enough!" Tentomon cried. He darted forward and tried to rip the book away from Izzy's hands. He failed as Izzy proved that just because he had no curiosity, didn't mean that he didn't have his strength.

"Keep away from me!"

Tentomon spun wildly for a few moments before he could right himself. He looked to his partner and saw that his digivice was flashing.

"_The less you think about, the happier you will be_."

"Someone's trying to send us a transmission," Tentomon said, though for all the good it did he could have been talking to himself. He flew behind Izzy and pulled his computer from his back pack and activated it. The image was a little fuzzy, but it was definitely Tai on the screen. Izzy floated over and stared at the screen impassively.

"Look, it's Tai," he said tonelessly and without much interest. "Where are you?"

"_I'm home,_" Tai said quickly._ "But I got your message that you're in danger. I'm trying to find you_."

"Tell me about it. I'm trying to find myself," Izzy serenely agreed. "Don't bother coming back to the Digital World Tai, you'll just clutter up the Universe."

"_Izzy!_" Tai cried just before the screen went blank. Tentomon felt hopeful that at least Tai knew they were in trouble, but Izzy didn't seem to be bothered that his friends were risking their lives.

"Tai's risking his life to save you Izzy," he tried to reason.

"Oh well."

"He's your friend!"

"_Indifference is the key to success. Practice it_."

"The Izzy I knew is no more," Tentomon lamented sorrowfully. He had no idea what to do. He wished that there was someone there who could help them…before it was too late.

* * *

Demidevimon rang the doorbell several times before Vademon made an appearance. Jade scrunched up her nose at the digimon, but still listened intently as she remained invisible. Vademon looked excited as he recognized the boy in the photo in Demidevimon's hands as Izzy, and disappeared only to return with Izzy's curiosity. Jade eyes went wide as she realized the digimon had robbed Izzy of one of his most important attributes.

But it wasn't the curiosity that Demidevimon wanted, and he held up another photo, this one showing what Izzy's tag and crest looked like. Neither one of them moved away from the hole so Jade couldn't get down it, for she knew that that was where Izzy and Tentomon were being kept. Vademon disappeared a short time later as he agreed to get the tag and crest in return for Demidevimon's curiosity.

"You're not going to get it," Jade whispered as Demidevimon did a little dance on the spot. "I promise you that much."

* * *

"A…B…C…D…E…F…G…H…"

For each letter that was spoken, Izzy twisted his body into its shape. It was repetitive, and once he had gone completely through the alphabet once, Tentomon interrupted him.

"Izzy, what are you doing?"

"I'm preparing my brainwaves by focusing on something fundamental, so I would rather you did not disturb me," the boy said tonelessly before continuing. "…I…J…K…L…M…N…"

He would have continued, but at that moment Vademon returned and while Izzy had seemed to barely tolerate Tentomon's interruptions, he had no problem stopping to listen to what Vademon had to say.

"There's something that I forgot to mention to you."

"Oh, yes? What?" Izzy asked.

"In order to fully improve yourself you must throw away possessions that are considered excess baggage," Vademon explained. Tentomon had a bad feeling about what was about to be requested.

"Such as…?" Izzy prompted without attitude.

"Just about everything except your clothes."

"Of course."

With that Izzy dug into his pockets to throw away papers that had collected there. He started to pat down his body and pulled his tag and crest from under his shirt. Not even a flicker of interest passed his eyes as he stared at it.

"Izzy! What are you doing?" Tentomon asked fearfully.

"This is expendable," Izzy decided as he released the tag and crest.

"Have you gone bananas? You can't throw those away!" Tentomon told him as he hurried after the floating crest. He just wasn't fast enough to grab it as Vademon hooked his finger around it before he could.

"What a nice looking trinket," he stated evilly.

"Give back that tag and crest you poor excuse for a digimon!" Tentomon ordered him.

"Back off bug," Vademon ordered him in return. He pulled out his gun and fired one shot at Tentomon, sending him flying away from him.

"Izzy!" Tentomon cried as he flew passed the human.

"Forget about him," Vademon ordered. "Now get back to your training."

"Yes," Izzy agreed and continued where he had left off. "…O…P…Q…R…S…T…U…V…W…X…"

* * *

When Vademon returned with Izzy's crest Jade was ready to jump up and steal it back. But when Demidevimon attempted to hand over his curiosity, but only succeeded in looking constipated, Jade had a different idea. Vademon kicked the smaller digimon, and with both of them occupied and looking in the other direction Jade rushed forward and leaped into the hole without anyone seeing her.

She ended up in a shop full of trinkets and sacks. She shivered at the implications of how many digimon had fallen into the same trap as Izzy and Tentomon, and how many had never regained what they had lost. At the back of the shop was another door, but she was too short to see through the small window that was near the top. She frowned and looked around for something to stand on, and grinned in delight as she spotted a mini ladder that was just tall enough that if she stood on the top rung she would be able to see through the door.

What she saw inside, however, caused her to gasp and tears to pool in her eyes. Izzy and Tentomon were there, but Izzy looked like a mindless robot forming the letters of the alphabet with his body, and Tentomon was crying. She couldn't hear what was happening on the other side, but she could feel Tentomon's desperation, hopelessness, and rejection.

He became Motimon, the lack of energy forcing him to de-digivolve to the In-training level. She pushed her hands against the glass of the window as if she could reach out and touch the two. And then Motimon de-digivolved further into his baby form, Pabumon. If he de-digivolved any further…he would die. Jade forced her energy through the door and into Pabumon, she couldn't let him die.

_Hold on_, she whispered into his mind. _I'm going to get you out of there._

_Izzy forgot me._ Pabumon cried in her mind. Jade felt tears slip down her cheeks as she continued to feed Pabumon energy.

_You're just going to have to remind him who you are then,_ she continued.

_How?_

_Your tears contain your memories, let them out._

Pabumon did as she requested, and she watched as Izzy stared at the growing tear-bubbles with something amounting to expression on his face. His eyes would flicker from bubble to bubble, and Jade knew that it was working. When the bubbles popped it was like life was returned to Izzy's eyes and he looked around in horror. His eyes fastened on Pabumon who was still crying and he rushed forward to pick him up. Izzy hugged him close to his chest, and Jade felt safe enough to duck out of sight of the door. It was a private moment the two were having, she would allow them that much.

"You lie! You're nothing but a weasel."

Jade flinched as she heard Vademon return and quickly moved the ladder back to where she had gotten it. She climbed the shelves quickly without disturbing anything and hid near the roof so that she wouldn't get in the way.

"Don't get bent all out of shape! Give me a break! I'm going to get into big trouble!" Demidevimon snapped back at the much taller digimon.

"It's not my concern you pesky pipsqueak! Now beat it pal."

"Oh please! Myotismon will pull my feathers out if I don't bring him that tag and crest!"

"You got yourself into this, now you can get yourself out."

"Please! I'm begging you! He's a big brute!"

"Back off."

Vademon backhanded Demidevimon and sent him flying into one of the shelves. Jade grinned in relief when she realised that the tag and crest were still safe. Vademon was twirling it around his fingers, but Demidevimon wasn't about to quit so easy.

"But Vademon!" Demidevimon begged.

"Get out!" Vademon ordered.

"Forget it!"

"It's mine!"

"No it's not!"

"You want to bet?!"

While they were arguing the door to where Izzy and Pabumon were being kept opened and the two poked their heads into the store. Jade was just glad that the two arguing digimon were in a different aisle, but she was still alarmed when Pabumon darted forwards towards the two much more powerful digimon.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Izzy quietly called after the baby digimon.

"Hand it over, you old coot!" Demidevimon spat.

"Now you've really got me mad!" Vademon warned him.

There was a small scuffle and then Pabumon was rushing back with the tag and crest in his mouth. Jade smiled in enjoyment. The baby digimon she had looked after had been creative in what they could and couldn't do as well.

"He's stolen the tag and crest!" Vademon roared as he charged after Pabumon. "You! Come back here!"

"Let's get him!" Demidevimon agreed.

"Where'd he come from anyway?" Vademon grouched.

"Pabumon! Over here!" Izzy called as he spotted his partner. Jade was ready to leap down to protect the two, but when Izzy caught Pabumon he darted through the still open door and out of sight. Vademon and Demidevimon rushed through after them, but no sooner had they entered that Izzy and Pabumon came back through and slammed the door shut, locking it as they did so. Jade giggled softly, even without his curiosity Izzy had interesting plans.

"That's good work Pabumon!" Izzy praised. "You got the crest!"

"Pabu-pabu-pabu!" Pabumon preened as Izzy slipped the tag around his neck again. Pabumon started to hop on the spot before moving down the aisle.

"You want me to follow you?" Izzy correctly deduced. He followed the jumping digimon, and Jade did the same by leaping from shelf to shelf, out of sight and completely silent. All that running from Dudley was certainly coming in handy now.

"Prodigious! You found my curiosity!" Izzy cried as he found what Pabumon was leading him towards. "It was a mistake to give it up. I'm sorry I just tossed it away. Curiosity is essential."

"Pabu, pabu," Pabumon agreed.

"I'm going to have to concentrate. I hope it transfers."

At that moment the door broke and the two trapped digimon came back inside. Jade whispered under her breath for Izzy to hurry up, and when she looked back at him it was to see the blue sack glowing slightly as it was absorbed back into his heart. Vademon appeared around the corner just in time to see the curiosity disappear.

"Now you're going to pay for this," he hissed at them. His gun was out again, and Jade ordered the two to run by yelling into their minds. Both flinched, but neither disobeyed her. They ran through the store, ignoring anything that was being damaged, and launched back into the dark room. Jade sighed her annoyance before swinging down and walking through after Vademon and Demidevimon charged through after Izzy and Pabumon.

"Pabumon! It's time for you to digivolve!" Izzy cried in the distance. Jade pushed more energy out and watched as, between blasts from Vademon's gun, Pabumon digivolved into Motimon, and then Tentomon.

Another blast that came that little bit too close to Izzy had him crying out for help, and Tentomon answering with everything he had.

"Izzy! Be careful!" Tentomon ordered. Jade could sense that he was getting ready to digivolve, and gave him more of her energy. It was dangerous for digimon to rapidly digivolve unless they had the energy to do so. Tentomon had lost all of his energy, and was only now getting it back. Izzy's new-found wisdom was giving him more energy.

"Tentomon digivolve to – Kabuterimon!"

Kabuterimon attacked Vademon, but Demidevimon proved to be a coward and ran away without seeing Jade standing by the door. She sighed at his cowardice before rushing over to where Izzy was watching his partner.

"What I need is some pest control! To-da-loo!" Vademon crowed as he summoned giant asteroids to attack Kabuterimon in his place. Kabuterimon wasn't powerful enough to get through unscathed, and Jade knew that if Izzy wanted to get out of there he needed to make his crest glow.

"Kabuterimon!" Izzy cried as his digimon started to fall.

"Sorry, but I've never been partial to vermin digimon," Vademon told him delicately.

"Koushiro Izumi!" Jade called. Izzy froze, and it was like the world around them stopped moving for a moment. He slowly turned to look at her, and she stopped just out of his reach.

"Jade?" he queried.

"Do you understand yet?" she asked.

"Understand what?" Izzy asked. "Kabuterimon is hurt, and it's my fault! I have to help him!"

"Why is it your fault?"

"Because it was my own stupidity that got us into this mess! I got tricked by Vademon into giving up my curiosity, and because of my apathy I nearly killed him! And still he fights to protect me!"

"That's what friends do," Jade told him.

"Friends…" Izzy breathed. "He is my friend, isn't he?"

"The knowledge will always be there Izzy," Jade said with a smile. "Tentomon won't."

"So that's what I needed to learn?" Izzy prompted. "I need to be a friend, I need to care about others instead of just my computer."

"Yes," Jade breathed, waiting for more.

"I have the crest of Knowledge, but knowledge isn't just facts, is it? It is knowing who my friends are, and what to do in every situation. I need to focus on what's happening in the real world, not just what is happening in my computer."

Jade stepped closer and kissed Izzy's cheek with a smile. He blushed as she stepped back, and then he noticed that his crest was glowing brightly.

"I knew you'd get there in the end," she told him. "The rest is up to you, Protector."

Jade turned and ran. Behind her she could hear Izzy calling out to Kabuterimon, and then the Champion was digivolving into his Ultimate level. Megakabuterimon was a giant red bug with a wicked looking horn. It reminded her of a Hercules Beetle, but a lot bigger than the image in her mind. Having stopped to look at the fight, Jade continued to run until she was out through the shop and then up the hole to where Tom was sitting on the edge waiting for her.

"How'd it go?" he asked her.

A loud explosion prevented her from answering and she darted off to the side in time to see Megakabuterimon rising from ground and landing safely before once again de-digivolving into Motimon. She looked down at Tom before scooping him into her arms.

"Everything will be alright with him now."

* * *

Matt and TK jumped as they heard the explosion, and then gaped as they saw Megakabuterimon flying from the new bottomless pit the mountain had claimed. Patamon flew up a little higher and was able to tell the two humans and Tsunomon that when the red digimon had de-digivolved it became Motimon.

"Izzy's alright!" TK cheered.

"Let's go TK," Matt told him as he started to run. "There has got to be a great story in that explanation."

* * *

"Izzy, wake up! Are you alright?!"

Izzy groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. When had he closed them? He looked up at the sky, and he wondered when he had got outside. Wasn't he trapped underground? No, Jade had helped him get his crest to glow, and Kabuterimon had digivolved. Where was his partner? Izzy sat up quickly and looked around wildly until he spotted Motimon by his side.

"I was so worried," Motimon told him in relief.

"I'm fine," Izzy replied. Motimon stood up but it was clear he was beyond exhausted as he just collapsed backwards with a groan.

"I'm so tired I can barely stand up."

"I'm sorry," Izzy whispered as he lifted Motimon into his arms carefully.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know."

Izzy was grateful for Motimon's forgiveness, but he couldn't forget just yet. He saw how close the digimon had come to being deleted, and he hadn't cared. Now that he thought about it, Jade's sudden appearance explained a lot.

"Izzy! Awesome! You made it back!"

Izzy turned and saw Matt and TK rushing towards them. They both looked relieved, and Izzy admitted he was relieved to see them as well. He waved, making sure to keep one arm around Motimon protectively.

"That's right!" he called. "We're back."

"And we're good," Motimon added.

"How's it going?" Matt asked as soon as he was closer. He was slightly puffed, and had probably run a fair distance to catch up with him.

"Yeah!" TK added his interest to know.

"Better now," Izzy told the younger boy.

"Tell us what happened!" TK demanded excitedly. "You disappeared off the digivice!"

"Yeah! How did you get here?" Tsunomon agreed. "We thought you were a digi-goner!"

"Izzy was taking a self-improvement class," Motimon explained flippantly.

"I improved so much I flunked right out," Izzy admitted with a grin. Matt and TK laughed as it seemed entirely unlikely that Izzy would fail at anything he set his mind to doing. Still, Matt noticed how protective Izzy was being of his partner, and it wasn't just because he was at the In-training level. Something had happened to Izzy.

"Are you alright?" he asked seriously as the laughter faded away.

"I am now," Izzy told him sincerely. "I finally understand what everyone else does."

"And what's that?" TK asked curiously.

"That we're not alone anymore."

"Your crest glowed," Matt realised. "Good for you Izzy, knew you could do it!"

Izzy grinned at him. He wanted to tell the two boys everything, including that Jade was around somewhere nearby, but before he could say anything he was interrupted by the arrival of the one person he had been searching for.

"Hello kids, it's been a while."

"It's Gennai," Izzy stated. Gennai was floating in mid-air, once again just a holograph and not there in the physical sense, but his appearance also meant that he was watching over them.

"The connection between the worlds is still damaged," Gennai told them. TK groaned sadly, he had wanted everything to be fixed already. "You'll have to stay longer. I've collected some information about the Digital World that you'll be able to use. Make sure you look at the digimon file, it will tell you all you need to know."

And with that Gennai disappeared. Izzy immediately pulled off his back pack and pulled out his laptop to look at the new file that had been downloaded. Motimon leaned against his side as he watched what Izzy was doing, and while he was setting up Matt and TK reclined on the ground just behind him.

The digimon file was exactly what it suggested. Every digimon that they had come across was displayed, complete with statistics about them and what level they were at. Izzy started to browse, and he explained what he was doing as he pulled up the most recent new digimon he had seen.

"I wonder if there's anyone else we know in here?" he muttered. Then he spun the screen so that the others could see what he had done. "I've just downloaded my favorite: Megakabuterimon."

"Yeah! I'm a cool dude!" Motimon declared with a blush.

"That's cool Izzy," Matt told him. "But now we have to catch up to Tai and the others. We said that we'd meet at the foot of the mountain."

"But, we can't leave yet," Izzy told him as he closed his laptop. "Jade's around here somewhere and we can't leave without her."

"How do you know?" TK asked him.

"She helped us out when we were in Vademon's universe," Motimon explained. "It was her energy that allowed me to digivolve as quickly as I did."

"You actually saw her?" Matt asked with wide eyes.

"As far as we know, she's kept out of sight of the humans," Tsunomon explained. "We know that she was watching out for us, and Gomamon and I got to talk with her while we were at the restaurant we were stuck at, but otherwise no one else has seen her."

"We saw her partner," TK added. "He's scary looking."

"Jade is doing her own thing at the moment," Patamon added. "She'll join us when she can, but we should go on without her for now."

Izzy nodded, not entirely convinced, but he did agree that they needed to find the others. He also knew that Jade could more than look after herself, and if her partner was with her then there wasn't any real danger in letting her do whatever she wanted. He stood up and started to walked off, Motimon in his arms.

"Of course," Tsunomon added as he hopped along at Matt's side. "Jade is already a fair distance away from here, heading towards Palmon and Mimi I assume."

TK giggled and started to skip out front with Patamon. Next stop, the foot of the mountain.

* * *

Tai and Joe had borrowed Matt's boat in order to follow the digivice to where Mimi was. Agumon was sitting on top of the boat where he would be out of the way, and Gomamon was swimming next to the boat gaily. The boat was a paddle boat, and required the boys to peddle as if they were on a bike in order to turn the propellers. It was hard work, and every peddle jarred Tai's arm that little bit more. He briefly considered allowing Joe to put it in a sling, but that would just make him lopsided, and he didn't need that.

"Hey, what's wrong you guys?" Agumon asked as he poked his head down over the front window to look at the two drivers. "Can't you make this bucket go any faster?"

"What are you doing to help?" Joe grunted. He was almost too tall to use the paddle boat and as such was hunched over painfully.

"Watching for icebergs," Agumon quipped.

"I knew that leaving Izzy in charge of story time was a bad idea," Joe groaned. "Agumon, there are no icebergs in the middle of this lake!"

"How do you know that? The captain of the _Titanic_ didn't know about the icebergs."

"Because it's too warm for icebergs," Joe moaned.

"This is the Digital World," Gomamon told him as he swum to the other side of the boat. "Anything is possible."

"Let them do what they want Joe," Tai told him. "We should be almost to the other side."

"Your arm hurting you?" Joe asked as he turned his attention away from the digimon.

"It might be," Tai stated.

"I can put it in a sling for you, it'll stop you from jarring more than you are now."

"I can handle it."

"Tai–"

"No, Joe," Tai told him as he took his eyes off the horizon to look at him. "A sling will throw me off balance and restrict my movement."

"We're not going to fight Tai," Joe told him with slight alarm. "And we have your back, just like you have ours."

Tai nodded his understanding, but he remained firm in his desire not to wear a sling. He couldn't say why it was important, just that he knew wearing it wouldn't help in the long run. He didn't say anything else for the trip, but he did sigh in relief and cradle his arm once they stopped at land and got out. The four of them stared up at the cliff face and the giant building at the top.

"Wow, that palace is huge!" Joe whistled as he craned his head back all the way.

"And way up there," Tai added in reluctance. He pulled his gaze away from the palace and looked at his digivice. "As if my legs weren't tired already. But there's no doubt about it. That is Mimi. So up we go!"

"You know, we should have placed bets on where everyone might have ended up," Gomamon said as he scuttled over to the steps. "I would have won if that was the case."

"You guessed that Mimi would be in a palace?" Agumon asked as he sped up to walk at Gomamon's side.

"Well, she does like nice things," Gomamon explained. "And she worries about her clothes a lot, and what she looks like, and her hair. She sounds like a princess from one of the stories that Sora told us."

"Which one?"

"Little Mermaid, I think it was," Gomamon pondered. "You know, the one about the fish-human who wanted to be totally human and ran away from home to do what she wanted and worried her family?"

"I would have said Goldilocks," Agumon revealed. "The one where the girl sees a house in the middle of nowhere and breaks in to eat their food and break the furniture before deciding that she wanted to stay and slept in one of the beds."

"Goldilocks was spoiled, wasn't she?"

"So was the fish-human princess," Agumon told him.

Joe and Tai listened with amusement as the two digimon started to compare Mimi to the various characters of the stories Sora had told them at night. Tai was smiling slightly, though he didn't want to know who the digimon would compare him to.

"Sora would have been Cinderella, I think." Agumon continued. "She's always singing and looking after the others, and when she's on watch she cleans up the space around her. She doesn't like it when things are messy."

"Oh, and Joe would be that cricket in Pinocchio!" Gomamon stated as he got into the game. "He's always trying to get everyone to take things seriously and he likes to make sure that everyone is alright."

"Jiminy Cricket?" Joe asked Tai. Tai just shrugged and listened as more comparisons were made.

"How about TK?" Agumon asked.

"Peter Pan!" Gomamon cheered. "Sometimes he smiles so hard that he could probably fly away if he wasn't stuck on the ground."

"And Matt can be Captain Hook!" Agumon agreed. "Hook was always chasing after Peter Pan, and while they fight they never really hurt each other."

"Izzy is the Beast from _Beauty and the Beast_," Gomamon continued. "He doesn't like people, but he really wants to be accepted for who he is. And Tai can be Li Shang from _Mulan_."

"Really?" Tai asked in a put upon tone.

"Yeah," Agumon agreed. "And Jade can be Mulan. They work together well don't you think?"

Tai blushed a violent red and Joe laughed softly. They started to slow down to allow the digimon to continue further up so that they wouldn't be overheard. Joe was the first one to break the silence.

"That's not a bad comparison." he said softly.

"Shang?" Tai told him. "He's a warrior who saves his country with only a handful of men and Mulan. I'm nothing like him."

"You are our leader," Joe told him, turning his eyes up the path. "You kept us together and with you we were able to defeat Etemon. And Shang ended up working well together with Mulan. Yeah, the way Sora told it there was quite a bit of romance, but Agumon could just mean that you and Jade are a good team when you're not fighting."

"Let's not speak of this again." Tai told him as they came to the top of the stairs. "The others do not need to know."

"Embarrassed?"

"Don't make me hit you Joe."

Agumon pushed open the front doors to the palace and the four of them poked their heads in to see a group of Gekomon, green frog-type digimon with a horn on their back, and Otamamon, little blue tadpole-type digimon with a tail and two arms, rushing around like there was a fire or something. They were wailing about a princess needing something, and then arguing about who had the more important job.

"Wow, we've walked into a palace with a spoiled princess," Joe muttered. "Anyone want to lay bets on who it is?"

"Mimi." Gomamon and Agumon stated together without hesitation.

"Yeah, that's what I fear as well," Joe told them. He pushed the doors open wider and walked in. Tai ended up in front of the group, with Joe and Gomamon off his left shoulder and Agumon off his right shoulder. He kept his arm still by his side and called out to the Gekomon and Otamamon.

It proved to be a mistake as they were instantly crowded and asked if they were delivering the food or clothes for the princess. By this, it meant that several different food orders were requested of them, as well as several articles of clothes. Tai let them yell for all of a few seconds before demanding that they be silent so that he could answer them. They went silent from shock, before one lone Otamamon scurried down from the steps to alert them that the princess was coming.

"At least we'll get to see if it's Mimi or not," Joe muttered out the corner of his mouth.

"Do you have any doubts from what you've just listened to?" Tai asked him back just as silent. Joe shook his head but was still unable to prevent himself from gaping as Mimi appeared at the top of the stairs wearing a pale pink gown, carrying a pink fan, white gloves covering her hands up to her upper arms and a crown resting on her head. Her hair was down and brushed passed her shoulders, and Joe blushed as he forced his mouth to close.

"What a surprise," Mimi said delicately as she balanced her fan in her hands. She even sounded like a delicate princess, and despite everything Tai cringed.

"Not really," he told her. "But, what are you doing up there?"

"What do you think?" Mimi asked him curiously. "I'm being a princess of course."

Gomamon and Agumon looked at each other from behind their partners, and both of them were wondering where Palmon was as she wasn't with Mimi. Joe covered his eyes, embarrassed at Mimi's behavior He knew that she was spoiled child, but she had appeared to have been getting better in the group. With the way she was acting now he wondered if anyone would want to be her friend.

"Well, you may as well come up here," Mimi told them as she turned to leave. Her eyes fastened on the splint on Tai's arm. "What happened to your arm?"

"Wasn't paying attention," Tai told her as he started to walk up the stairs passed the bowing Gekomon and Otamamon. "How long have you been here?"

"A few weeks," Mimi told him as she led the way to her room. Inwardly Tai was cringing at all the pink that was on display, and vowed to never actually go to Mimi's room back at home because it would probably blind him in its intensity. "The Gekomon and Otamamon asked for my help and I've been here ever since."

"Help with what?" Tai asked.

"This and that."

"Well, the important thing is that you're alright," Joe told her as he blinked at the overwhelmingly pink room.

"Yeah, that's for sure," Agumon added. "Well come on, let's get a move on."

"Move on where?" Mimi asked him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Right, you want to change first, we'll wait," Joe told her, deliberately being dense.

"For what? I'm keeping this dress on."

"And it's beautiful," Agumon reassured her. "But it's not the best thing for walking long distances."

"Walking? I have no intention of walking anywhere!"

"Are you expecting us to carry you out of here, Your Majesty?" Joe asked sarcastically.

"No, I'm not going," Mimi insisted.

"Huh?" Gomamon and Agumon uttered in confusion.

"Why would I leave?" Mimi asked them in surprise. "I am a princess here. Besides, who knows if we'll ever find our way home? So I might as well live large and in charge."

"You must be kidding," Tai murmured as he raised his right hand to brush his hair back. He cupped the back of his head and watched Mimi in disappointment.

"No way," Mimi told him. "Take a look around. I've got a nice bed, pretty clothes, food…it's like having a birthday every day. I am a princess! And you want me to give this up? I don't think so! If I go out there with you guys I could get seriously hurt! I don't want to die!"

Tai understood where she was coming from, he really did, but they were needed to save the Digital World and they wouldn't be able to do that if they hid away in a palace for the rest of their lives.

"Is something wrong?"

The new voice came from one of the side rooms and the two digimon looked at it curiously, waiting for whoever it was to come out and greet them.

"Another servant?" Agumon asked his friend in an undertone.

"No, it's Palmon," Gomamon told him.

"Finally, a voice of reason," Joe cheered. "Palmon, come talk some sense into Mimi."

"As in Princess?" Palmon asked as she stuck her head around the door. Tai actually smacked his face in disbelief as Palmon appeared wearing the exact same dress as Mimi but smaller. Palmon was clearly living in the lap of luxury with her partner and loving it.

"Oh no! Not you too!" Joe cried hopelessly.

"Okay, that's enough!" Tai snapped at the two girls. "This is no time for playing games! Both of you change out of those dumb clothes and let's get out of here!"

"I am not playing a game Tai!" Mimi yelled at him angrily. "I'm staying! You can go at any time! Why don't you guys go look for the others? Be gone from my palace!"

"I'm not leaving without you!" Tai yelled back.

"Wait Mimi, don't be mean," Palmon requested desperately. "They're our friends!"

"If you want to go be my guest!" Mimi snapped at her. Palmon shrank back a little and Tai grew angry.

"We're going home Mimi! Do you understand that?! Don't you care that there are people back home who will be worried about you when you don't show up?"

"Yeah, come on," Joe added, trying to defuse Tai's anger. "Why do you think we almost killed ourselves trying to find you? It's because you are part of the team."

"That's very nice but I am not going!" Mimi told him and turned her back on him. "Besides, if I stay here my parents can look after Makoto without worrying about me! I won't be woken at all hours of the night by his screams!"

"That's it, Mimi! Like it or not Joe's right and we've got to stick together!" Tai growled at her before sitting down on the ground decisively. "So I'm not budging from this spot until you come to your senses and leave with us!"

"Yeah!" Agumon agreed sitting down next to Tai.

"Right!" Gomamon added as he joined the two on the floor. Only Joe remained standing, and he looked nervous. He knew that this wasn't the way to get Mimi to come with them, though he was curious about who Makoto was.

"Oh really?" Mimi asked them with a sneer. "You all keep forgetting who's in charge around here."

Off her bedside cupboard was a bell that she lifted delicately. When it rang it echoed throughout the palace, and Tai couldn't help but compare it to Jade's bells when she was Phoenixmon. This bell was harsh in comparison. Before the echo of the bell had completely died away, what appeared to be every Gekomon and Otamamon forced themselves through Mimi's door and looked at her seriously.

"Your Highness, what is it that you desire?" one of the Gekomon asked of her. Mimi crossed her arms and tilted her head away from the boys on the floor. She looked every bit the snobbish princess she was portraying.

"I desire these rude and bothersome peasants to be removed from my boudoir at once."

"Yes, Princess!" the Gekomon chanted.

Tai and the others had only moment's warning before they were lifted from the ground by many small hands and jostled out of the room. The Gekomon had no problems bouncing them, and Tai groaned as his arm was smacked rather hard against the wall as they passed it. He clutched it close to his chest and struggled to walk on his own, just as the others were doing. He kept his eyes closed and his teeth clenched to prevent himself from making a noise of pain, and as such was completely unprepared when he was thrown out onto the drawbridge.

As distracted as he was when he landed on his arm he involuntarily let out of scream through his teeth and curled around his arm. His friends looked at him in alarm and concern, but he ignored them as he tried to push the pain to the back of his mind.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" he hissed. His right hand was gripping his left upper arm to cut of the circulation, as if the pain from there would distract him from his forearm. Joe gripped Tai's neck supportively, but it still took several minutes for Tai to come down from the pain induced haze. When he could breathe without screaming he sat up a little and crossed his legs under him.

"I'm going to make a sling for you Tai," Joe told him. "If you keep knocking your arm, and I know that wasn't your fault, you could injure it worse."

Tai nodded without speaking and allowed Joe to twist another towel around his wrist to secure it to his chest. When Joe was done, his left hand rested just below his right shoulder and his arm was pretty much immobilised. With his right hand Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out his supply of aspirin and with Joe's help he was able to free two of the pills and swallow them.

"Did we do that?" one of the Gekomon asked. Tai opened his eyes and turned so that he could look at three Gekomon and two Otamamon who had stayed after the others left. They looked worried, and Tai held no ill will against them. He shook his head but otherwise didn't utter a sound.

"Are you alright Tai?" Agumon asked worriedly. Tai nodded at him, but he didn't think he looked very reassuring. He was feeling lightheaded, so he knew that his face was pale, but there wasn't much he could do until the aspirin started to work. Joe watched him, and then looked at the other digimon who were watching.

"Why do you wait on Mimi hand and foot?" he asked them. "She said that she was helping you out with something, but not what."

"You really want to know?" the middle Gekomon asked.

"Sure," Agumon said. "We need to know in order to get her back. We need her."

"And so do we," one of the Otamamon insisted.

"I think it would be best if you just followed us," the Gekomon said before an argument could begin. "This way."

* * *

"So you reckon Myotismon wants the crests so that he will have no opposition when he takes over not only the Digital World, but the Human World as well?" Jade asked as she and Tom flew to the Gekomon Palace. "And the best way to get the crests is to ensure that they never glow, so when they're effectively broken he will be able to squash any resistance."

"It's what I would do," Tom admitted. He was currently Horcruxmon and Jade was sitting on his back so that she didn't have to expend any energy as they travelled. "The crests, even inactive as some of them still are, protect this world from most of the evil that plagues it. By capturing them Myotismon is gaining control of these protections and once he has them all he will be able to break your control of this world, and gain more power to break through to the Human World. The Human World isn't really protected from digimon and other dark creatures from the Shadow World, and the Magical World doesn't usually concern itself with what happens outside of it unless it interferes with their precious Statute of Security."

"With most of them active though," Jade persisted. "He won't be able to take over the Digital World just yet."

"I fear he will turn his attention to the Human World first, destroy it, and then return here with far more power."

"How would he get more power there?"

"By draining it of its energy," Tom tried to explain. "Just because the Magical World is where most magicians reside, doesn't mean that the 'magic' that they use isn't in the Human World as well. It lives in anything, and I think that if Myotismon steals the energy of the humans he will gain their power. He will be unstoppable."

"Then we can't let him go to the Human World," Jade insisted. "I may not like it, but it is my home for the time being."

"Then we should make sure that Sincerity doesn't break."

* * *

"You're not taking us to an evil digimon are you?" Joe asked nervously as they were led to a smaller temple next to the palace. They needed to cross another drawbridge to get there, and from the look of it, the temple had been redecorated recently.

"What if Mimi catches us?" Gomamon asked.

"She won't," the Otamamon promised.

They made it inside the temple to see a stage complete with lights, speakers and a disco ball above it and the biggest digimon they had ever seen. He was fat, and facing away from the group. There were two horns on his shoulders, a green leafy type neck covering and a tail-like thing that came out of his head instead of his butt.

"Here's our master, Lord Shogungekomon." Gekomon said, indicating the fat digimon.

"Whoa!" Agumon cried. "Someone's had a few too many donuts!"

"Is it a statue or what?" Joe asked through his horrified gaping.

"No, he's not a statue, he's very much alive," Gekomon assured them.

"He may be alive, but he's not lively is he?" Agumon clarified.

"He's sleeping." Otamamon told him sadly.

"He's been this way for over 300 years!" Gekomon added. The digimon went on to explain that Shogungekomon had participated in a singing contest, as he was very proud of his singing voice, but he had lost. He had fallen into a deep depression and fallen asleep. The Gekomon and Otamamon were positive that only someone with a beautiful singing voice could wake him up, so when a digimon had turned up at their door talking about a girl in pink who had a lovely singing voice, they had been overjoyed.

Mimi had felt sorry for them and agreed to try and wake him. Her voice had stirred the giant digimon, but before he completely woke up Mimi stopped singing as she had forgotten the words. To help her remember, the Gekomon and Otamamon provided her with a banquet, and then costumes, and lights. But seeing how spoiled she was, Mimi decided that she didn't want to sing and end her chances of being a princess for forever, and came up with excuse after excuse to delay the end. It had been several weeks already, and she showed no desire to wake Shogungekomon.

"We're totally helpless." the Otamamon concluded.

"Unfortunately, you've given Mimi the life she's been accustomed to," Joe told them. "And then some."

"Since you're friends of hers could you reason with her?" the Gekomon asked.

"Oh please?" the Otamamon added desperately. "We'll be eternally grateful."

"I don't think she knows what reason is." Agumon admitted.

"Just leave it to me guys," Tai told them. "I've got it."

"I knew it! I knew you'd come through," the Gekomon sobbed in relief.

"What are you thinking Tai?" Joe asked apprehensively. "You're not going to sing are you?"

"Me? That's a laugh, I couldn't hold a tune if my life depended on it." Tai said with a self-depreciating laugh. "No, I'm going to go and talk to her."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Joe asked him. "She did just kick us out."

"Relax Joe, it'll be fine. Just wait here alright?"

* * *

Tai didn't know why he insisted on going alone, but he felt that he needed to. He spotted Palmon coming and hid from her. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her, it's just that he didn't want to be distracted. The others would deal with Palmon for him.

He didn't see a single Gekomon or Otamamon as he sneaked back into the palace, which confused him for a moment, and then he decided that he didn't care and just walked to Mimi's room and sat down on a chair with relief and waited. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long until Mimi returned, though she did jump in surprise when she saw him sitting in her room.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded rudely. "I thought I had made it clear that I wanted you to leave."

"At the moment Mimi, I couldn't care less what you wanted," Tai told her coldly. "The Gekomon and Otamamon came to you for help, and while you may have come here with every intention to do so, you've imposed upon them long enough. What are you doing here? It's disgusting the way that you're treating them."

"How dare you!" Mimi hissed in anger as her face turned red. Tai stood up from his seat and marched up to her.

"No! How dare you?" he growled in her face. "You're living a lie! This person I see before me…she's not my friend. She's a fraud who is slowly pushing away everyone who cares about her. You continue like this Mimi, and you will be alone forever."

"I am a princess!"

"No! The only princess who I know is currently out in the Digital World trying to find a way for us to get home! She's not hiding behind dresses and palaces and servants, she's looking after her subjects…not abusing them!"

"Get out!"

"If I leave now, Mimi, you will never have my friendship again."

"What good would that do me?!" Mimi asked furiously. "Your 'friendship' brought Jade here with us, and while she has her memories now she didn't have them before! Your 'friendship' caused you to hurt Agumon so bad that he didn't want to fight for you, and caused Jade to abandon us for the digimon! Your 'friendship' ensured that you would disappear and leave us alone! Do you know how bad that was? You died in front of us Tai! And then you disappeared to who knows where for months and now that you're back you expect everything to go back to the way it was?!"

"I want us to be together," Tai told her. "I want for us to go home. I want to go back to my sister who I left on the sidewalk so that I could come back here to you guys. I want not to fight anymore. I want to actually matter to my parents. I want to be able to look into a mirror and not hate what I see. And I want you to grow up and realize that this dream you are living is hurting more people than it is helping. I'm sorry for scaring you Mimi, I'm sorry that I left you, I'm sorry that you're still scared enough that you want to hide behind these walls where you think nothing can hurt you, and I'm sorry that you are doubting that our friends can keep us safe."

Mimi burst into tears and threw her arms around Tai's neck. He grunted at the pressure she put on his arm but otherwise wrapped his right arm around her back to hold her close as she cried into his chest.

"I'm scared Tai," she wept. "What if we never get home? I don't think I could live without seeing my brother or parents again. But if we leave does that mean we leave Palmon and the others behind? Don't make me chose Tai, please?"

"Why won't you sing?" Tai asked her gently now. "The way the Gekomon talk you have a lovely voice. I admit that it surprised me when they said that, the last time I heard you sing was in the sewers under File Island. Not your best performance."

"If I sing, they'll make me leave. I don't want to be alone anymore."

"We're here Mimi, you're not alone. And Palmon would never leave you. I took Agumon back to our world and he seemed fine. There's no reason I can think of that would prevent Palmon from coming with us."

Mimi pulled back slightly and looked at Tai, really looked at him. She brushed away her tears and smiled.

"You've changed Tai," she told him. "Jade's been good for you."

Tai stammered and blushed, causing Mimi to giggle. She looked different now, more like the Mimi he had been travelling with, even if she was still wearing her princess clothes.

"I've been terribly selfish." she admitted. "But, I think I can do the right thing now."

"That's great." Tai told her. Mimi smiled brighter and then gasped as her crest around her neck glowed brightly.

"I think I need to change into something different," Mimi told him.

"I'll wait in the concert hall then."

Tai left the room as silently as he had arrived and walked back to where the others were.

* * *

Sora watched in amazement as Tai snapped some sense into Mimi without getting overly angry. She had never seen him so passionate before, and had to admit that it would have been Jade's influence that was forcing him to grow up. Her situation at home, and the fact that he hadn't seen her since he left, was probably worrying him enough that he was trying his best to get everyone together. He was turning into a worrywart.

"What do we do now Sora?" Biyomon asked curiously.

"Let's go and watch what happens," Sora suggested as she started to prepare to climb down the outside of the palace walls. She was sitting on Mimi's balcony, but now that she wasn't needed she was content to take a step back.

"Damn, I was looking forward to scaring some sense into her."

The two girls screamed as a black cat jumped onto the balcony railing after leaping from the roof above them. Biyomon shivered and stood in front of Sora protectively, she didn't like the feeling that the digimon before her was giving her. Sora stood up as well, the red eyes were chilling her.

"I told you that I didn't want that," another voice ordered, this one much warmer and familiar. Sora and Biyomon looked up as Jade leaped from the roof to land on the railing next to the cat.

"Honestly," Jade sighed. "Why must you scare my friends?"

"Because it amuses me." the cat told her as he delicately inspected his talons. They looked dangerously sharp. "Besides, Sincerity could have done with a good scare to make her wake up."

"Jade?" Sora queried. "You know this digimon?"

"Of course," Jade said with a smile. "This is Tomomon, he's my partner, best friend and brother. I'd say he didn't mean to frighten you, but he did."

"Are you alright?" Biyomon asked. "We were worried when you disappeared."

"I'm great!" Jade told her with a wide grin. "Aside from Myotismon sabotaging my efforts to protect this world, and Demidevimon being a pest, I haven't felt this good in a long time. By the way Sora, how's your arm?"

"My arm?" Sora repeated. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"Oh," Jade mused in surprise. "I guess I just assumed that because Datamon crushed Tai's arm, yours would have been similarly injured. I think I healed most of the break when I saved his life, but I clearly didn't heal it all the way as it's not whole yet."

"Ah," Sora stated in realisation. "Datamon didn't really squeeze my arm because I wasn't holding onto Tai. His hand was holding my wrist, but I was just hanging there. The angle I was at prevented me from grabbing him. I just had a bruise from both of them for a few days. It wasn't broken."

"This is very touching." Tomomon interrupted in a bored tone. "But since I'm not needed, let's go off and hunt some pathetic life-form and then continue or search for Myotismon's base. I want to break his nose."

Sora looked horrified, but Jade didn't seem perturbed by his blatant disregard for life. All she did was tap the cat on his head once before sliding off the railing and standing on solid ground.

"Why did you want to scare her?" Sora asked the black cat hesitatingly.

"I should have thought it obvious Love." Tomomon told her scathingly. "You so-called Protectors of this world need to work together. If one of you falls, you will all be defeated and this world will be destroyed far more effectively than I destroyed the Shadow World."

"Oh," Sora stated, unsure of what one would normally say in that situation.

"You look different Jade." Biyomon told Jade while Sora thought about Tomomon's statements. "What happened to you?"

"I found Tom," Jade said with a wide smile. "I guess it was like how you guys felt before your partners arrived in this world. There was a part of me that was missing, and now I've found it. I'm happy."

"And you'd better make sure she stays happy." Tomomon threatened Biyomon and Sora. "If I find out that you've done something that hurts her, you won't like the consequences."

The two he was threatening gulped, but Jade just smiled and lifted him up gently.

"I was happy with them before." she told him. "They won't hurt me, and if anything they're worried about _you_ hurting me."

"I would rather die and have my data scattered through the brightest part of this world than allow any harm to befall you again." Tomomon hissed at her. "I'm not going to lose you again."

Sora suddenly smiled as she recognized what was happening. Tomomon was afraid of letting Jade out of his sight and was threatening them with harm because he didn't want her to get hurt. It was sweet, and while the digimon obviously had no love for anyone else, he would never do anything to hurt Jade. Sora was also positive that Jade would be devastated if they died, so Tomomon would never actually hurt them, it was just a bluff.

"Time to get out of here then," Sora decided. "Let's go Biyomon. Would you like to come with us Jade?"

"No thank-you," Jade told her. "Tom and I are going to look for Demidevimon. He's possibly the only one we can think of who knows where Myotismon's base is. We're hoping he'll lead us to it or Myotismon will come out of hiding so that we can kick his butt."

Sora shook her head and slid off the side of the balcony. Things were going to get interesting soon enough.

* * *

Tai leaned against the back wall of the concert hall. He hadn't told Joe exactly what he had done to convince Mimi to sing, just that he had and she was just getting ready. The Gekomon and Otamamon had cheered in joy and relief and before too long they were all crowding around the stage and waiting for Mimi to appear. When she did a while later, it wasn't in her princess clothes but her usual clothes. She was also tearing up as she stared at everyone looking up at her.

"First of all, there's something that I need to say to everyone here," she began. "All of you have been so nice to me, I'm so sorry for the way I treated you. It was wrong. If you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, and I don't know why you would, but if you can then I'd be honored to sing for you one more time."

"We forgive you!" Palmon called out to her from the back of the hall.

"Of course we do," a lone Gekomon added. "Sing, Your Highness!"

That sentence sent each Gekomon and Otamamon into a cheering frenzy, making Mimi feel even more despicable but also quite thankful that each person in the audience didn't hate her. Her eyes locked onto Tai's and she smiled at him in gratitude.

"Thank-you," she whispered.

"Hit the lights and cue the music!" Palmon ordered.

Mimi wasn't a bad singer. In fact, Tai would have gone as far to say that she could sing for a career if she wanted to. Pop Princess Mimi is what they would call her. As she sang, Shogungekomon started to stir, and his head-tail started to rise. The Gekomon and Otamamon were just about crying in joy and expectation, and Joe was bouncing in time to the music with Palmon, Agumon and Gomamon at his side.

And then Shogungekomon woke up.

The music cut off and Mimi broke off with a startled gasp. She spun around in alarm at the same time as Tai pushed himself off the wall and ordered Mimi to move. Shogungekomon stood up and turned around to face the audience, and he didn't look happy at all. He looked quite cranky, and Tai pushed his way through the crowd to get to Mimi's side. He had promised that he would help look after her.

"I was having such a nice sleep!" the newly awoken digimon roared. "Which one of you clowns woke me up? Or should I just squish all of you?"

By this time Tai had made it to the stage and leaped up onto it. He grabbed Mimi's arm and started to pull her after him as he tried to escape from the ungrateful digimon. He was slightly off balanced with his arm secured to his front, and he cursed as he realized how disadvantaged he was but still he ran dragging Mimi behind him.

Shogungekomon walked forward trying to step on them, and with each step the ground beneath them shook. His feet and hands snapped outwards as he started to bring the temple around him down. Tai stumbled with a curse and pushed Mimi back as a bit of the roof fell down in front of them. Mimi cried out and just about wrapped her body around Tai's arm fearfully.

"Whose idea was this?!" a Gekomon demanded as the others ran to the door to get out. "Remind me to never listen to them again!"

"Tai! Mimi!" Joe cried as he noticed the two had become separated.

"Keep going!" Tai ordered. "We'll be fine!"

"You want to hear some singing?" Shogungekomon asked them. He cleared his throat and started to make a noise that Tai assumed was singing. "_The ground will shake, when you hear the noise I make because I'm glad to be awake…YEAH!_"

At the final note he let out a concussive wave that sent everyone aside from Mimi and Tai through the wall to the water far below. Tai's eyes went wide in horror even as he called out a denial, and he pulled Mimi after him as he ran to see if the others were alright or pancakes on the ground.

"Agumon! Joe! Answer me!" he ordered.

"Palmon!" Mimi echoed desperately. "Speak to me!"

The two of them stared out the new hole in the wall in time to see the others stumble from the water onto land. Tai heaved a sigh of relief as he noticed everyone who had fallen was alright. Mimi also sighed in relief when Palmon waved at her, but then she straightened her shoulders and let go of Tai's arm. He spun around in alarm as she separated from him, but didn't try to stop her as she picked up the discarded microphone on the ground.

"Hey you!" she called into it, staring up at Shogungekomon. "How about some gratitude? I sung you out of your three hundred year nap, you wannabe tuner!"

"Mimi," Tai warned, moving closer to her.

"All that racket? It was you?" Shogungekomon roared in anger.

"Uh oh," Mimi uttered.

"Agumon!" Tai cried urgently. "Digivolve!"

From down below he heard his partner advance to the next level, and he was pretty sure that Gomamon also digivolved as Shogungekomon was forced to back up due to Ikkakumon's attack. While he was distracted Tai grabbed Mimi again and ran to the hole in the wall. Without even pausing he took a running leap, Mimi screaming as she realized they were falling, and called out to Palmon to catch them. Vines wrapped around their waists securely and brought them safely to the ground.

Greymon fired his _Nova Blast_ at Shogungekomon as Joe rushed over to make sure his friends were alright, but Tai ignored him and focused on what their enemy was doing. Shogungekomon roared in anger.

"Now it's show time!" he cried before he started to sing again. "_Now why'd you do that, 'cause I'll know you flat, and now you're gonna feel it…YEAH!_"

The concussive force of his shout pushed aside the two attacks before they could hit him and continued on to pushing Greymon and Ikkakumon to the ground. Joe whimpered a little at the show of strength before looking back at Shogungekomon in time to see him leap from the damaged temple with the intent to squash them. Tai balked before standing firm.

"Watch out below!" Shogungekomon called out to them as he fell.

"Greymon! Digivolve!" Tai ordered urgently.

"Greymon digivolve to – Metalgreymon!"

Now much larger and harder to squash, Metalgreymon stepped in front of the children protectively and caught Shogungekomon on his head before he threw him back up into the temple. There was cheering from the Gekomon and Otamamon when they realized that they hadn't been squashed, and Joe sighed in relief from where he had fallen to the ground. One more attack from Metalgreymon, the two missiles that came from his chest, soundly defeated Shogungekomon when they flew into the two horns on his back and exploded. The entire temple crashed down and buried Shogungekomon. Metalgreymon de-digivolved into Koromon and Tai lifted him with his one good arm.

"Well done buddy."

"Thanks Tai."

"Well Mimi, are you ready to go?" he asked as he turned to Mimi. She had her arms wrapped around Palmon, but when he spoke to her she looked up at him with a smile.

"Yeah, let's find the others," she told him. "I want to go home."

* * *

**It's a long one! Happy reading to all of you! Thank-you to everyone who reviewed!**

**Sora1113: In time. I don't think everyone will end up knowing, but some of them will for sure.**

**Penguin Lord0029:That's an interesting idea, but no, I don't think so.**

**gaara king of the sand: Tai has the ability to use magic, all the digidestined do**

* * *

_**Next up in Intertwined Destinies:**_

_**Chapter 19: Inner Powers ~ Sora**_


	19. Inner Powers - Sora

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. He was pulled into the Human World where he realised no time had passed since they were first sent to the Digital World. Despite how much Tai wanted to stay, he knew he couldn't and foundhis way back to the Digital World._

_In the Digital World, the digidestined separated. Jade ran from them first and was finally reunited with her digimon partner who she calls Tom, no matter was digivolution he is in. In Jade's absence from his life, Tom went insane and destroyed the world that he ruled. It is also revealed that Tom was once a human, who tried to kill Jade when she was a baby, but when that failed his soul latched onto her. The shard was removed from Jade when she was first pulled into the Digital World, and that was how Tom was born._

_Tai and Agumon have found TK, Matt and Joe. Matt and TK went off and found Izzy, while Tai and Joe went off to find Mimi. The only one left to find is Sora. They must find her soon, or both worlds will be in great danger._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 19: Inner Powers ~ Sora

* * *

"So, when are you going to meet up with all of your Protectors?" Tom asked as he flew through the night. They were heading after Demidevimon, and it seemed like he had finally returned to Myotismon's base, much to Tom's delight. There was much he wanted to say to his old subordinate.

"When they're all together," Jade told him. She was once again sitting on his back with her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared at the passing landscape impassively. "Sora's running from them, and until she's ready to go back I'll just stay out of it. What are you going to do with Myotismon?"

"Squash him into little data bytes and start his programming again."

"And if I asked you not to?" Jade asked hesitantly.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because we're flying towards another crest and I'm pretty sure that Myotismon knows where, or what happened, to the final digidestined."

"Really?!" Tom asked in disgust. "Well that just ruined my plans. Stupid digimon. Why'd I create you? You worthless disaster in the making. You're going to destroy everything that we're trying to preserve."

Jade let Tom curse as she had known he would. The eighth digidestined was a topic of confusion for her, because she knew that there was supposed to be another one even though Gennai had never told her the identity of anyone. She also had no idea what had happened to the eighth egg after Gennai took them away from Piedmon, and she also had no idea how Myotismon had gotten his hand on the eighth crest. If she remembered correctly, that one had been hidden in an oasis on the fringes of the desert and the forest.

"You think he's going to go to the Human World to grab the eighth child and use that child to further his power, don't you?" Tom asked eventually as he started to descend. Jade changed the position she was sitting in so that when he stopped she could land on her feet safely.

"It makes sense," she told him. "The powers of the digidestined are greater than normal humans. There's a chance that if the digidestined here don't act, Myotismon will grab this child and convince them to join his cause. If he or she doesn't join him, they will die and then this world will fall."

"I could just delete him," Tom muttered.

"He has a way to the Human World, and I think he has the crest," Jade refuted. "Does this place look familiar to you?"

Tom looked around at the trees and then as they swerved around another tree they saw a castle far greater than the Gekomon Palace or Piximon's colosseum. The memory was just sitting out of Jade's reach, but Tom's curse told her that he knew where they were and he was not happy.

"This is the sight of the Gateway," he told her. "It is the location of the one physical portal in this world that links to every world in existence if you know the correct sequence. The Digital World uses data cards, and the placement of each card decides what door will open on the other side. There are other portals in this world, but they only link to one other world. Like, in the middle of the ocean is a whirlpool that links with the Shadow World."

"I see," Jade muttered as she stared at the walls. "The crest is definitely in there, and so is Myotismon."

"So, what, you want him to open the Gateway so that the digidestined will be able to go home?" Tom asked incredulously. "He's a traitor!"

"If he looks like he's succeeding before the digidestined arrive, stall him," she told him as she finally made it to the ground. "I'm going to lead the digidestined this way."

"Can I at least hurt him?"

"Stall him," Jade repeated firmly. Then she smiled. "How you stall him is entirely up to you."

Tom grinned in delight before de-digivolving so that he was a cat once again. Jade laughed and picked him up, warning him to be careful. Tom's delight faded as he realized that Jade would be going off on her own, and while he wanted to go with her he would take his job seriously. This was her world after all, not his, and he had already done enough damage to it. If she wanted the traitor alive, he would keep the traitor alive until she said otherwise. He disappeared into the castle.

Jade watched him go before turning and running off. If she could get to the digidestined before Demidevimon was freed from whatever punishment he was getting for his failure, then she could ensure that they made it to the castle and back home before Myotismon destroyed it. She leaped over fallen tree branches, and mid-leap transformed. Her wings of flame picked her up and sent her flying into the air and above the trees.

Now she would make good time.

* * *

Tai and Joe were once more paddling, with Mimi, Palmon and Koromon on top of the boat and Gomamon in the water next to them. It was harder going than the way across the first time, for many different reasons. Tai's arm was in a sling so he couldn't brace both his arms like Joe was, and there were now three passengers on the roof instead of one.

They had spent the night at the Gekomon Palace, eating their fill and sleeping on something soft. It had been very welcome and they were all reluctant to get out of bed once the sun rose. But they still had to get back together, and with any luck Matt and TK would have found Izzy and Sora so that they wouldn't need to run further across the Digital World to track down their missing teammate.

"How's your arm this morning Tai?" Joe asked between his panting.

"Better than it was yesterday," Tai admitted honestly.

"Does it hurt?"

"Only a little, I can ignore it."

Joe sighed. He just couldn't understand why Tai didn't want to make a big deal about his health. They were a team, what hurt one of them hurt them all. But then, Joe thought, Tai had never been particularly concerned about himself when it came to look after himself or the others. They had all lost weight on their adventure, but it was most pronounced with Tai. He wondered how their parents would react when they saw the change in them when they got home. They had only been at summer camp for two weeks, and that was nowhere near long enough for the types of changes they had undergone.

"Okay, we're here," Tai said in relief as the boat bumped against solid ground.

"I'm tired," Joe announced as he slumped back against the seat as much as he could. He forced his body out of the boat and around to where Tai was waiting for the others to join him. Koromon bounced to the ground, followed by Palmon, and Gomamon leaped from the water with a grin, but Mimi didn't budge from the top of the boat.

"Come on Mimi," Tai coaxed as he held up his one good arm. "It's time to get off your throne."

"Ha! I wouldn't call this a throne," Mimi told him regally.

"And I wouldn't call you a princess," Joe muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Mimi huffed at him and turned her head away as she took Tai's hand and slid to the ground. She ignored Joe as she brushed off her clothes and walked away from him. Her eyes studied the landscape curiously, wondering where they would be going next, when new voices echoed from over the nearest ridge.

"Hey guys!" it called. "Over here!"

The three of them looked up and grinned as they saw Matt, Izzy and TK running towards them. Matt reached them first, having longer legs than the others, but it didn't take long for everyone to gather around next to the boat. The digimon formed their own little group as they checked over to make sure that each other was alright, though Patamon stayed sitting on TK's hat.

"I thought your arm was only fractured?" Matt asked as he stared at Tai's sling.

"It was," Joe told him. "But it was made worse by the rough handling of the Gekomon and the fact that he didn't want to wear a sling."

"It was fine," Tai told him with a frown.

"Tai, if you'd gone any more pale than you were, you would have been transparent," Joe scolded him.

"How does your arm feel now Tai?" TK asked as he stood right in front of him. "Does it still hurt?"

"Only a little," Tai told him. "It's better than it was."

"Did you guys run into Sora or Jade?" Matt asked as TK nodded at Tai's answer. Joe still looked disapproving.

"No, we thought you might have," Tai told him. "Have you seen either one of them?"

"We've seen Jade," Izzy, Motimon, Tsunomon and Gomamon stated.

"I've heard her," Tai added. "Several times but I haven't seen her. I haven't seen Sora at all though."

"I think I heard Sora," Koromon said. "When I was Agumon and we were going to eat those Mushrooms of Forgetfulness I heard Sora warn me. I didn't see her, but I also didn't stick around long enough to look for her as I needed to get back to you and TK."

Tai frowned before closing his eyes. He concentrated hard on Jade, as they seemed to share a mental link of some kind, and thought his questions to her. He hoped that she would be able to hear him, and answer, otherwise he had no idea what to do.

_Jade? Do you know where Sora is? We can't find her._

"What do we do Tai?" Mimi asked, noticing that his eyes were closed. "Tai?"

"One minute," he muttered. _Jade? Can you hear me?_

_I can hear you, no need to shout,_ Jade whispered into his mind, her laughter bringing a smile to his face. _Sora's not far from you, if you search for her like you're searching for me, you'll find her._

Tai wondered about that, slightly doubtful. But nonetheless he concentrated on Sora and his desire to find her. The others were watching him in concern, and while Tai could feel their gazes he ignored them and everything around him. Then, there she was. A red spark back the way Matt and the others had come from, but she was running away from them. He opened his eyes abruptly, causing Mimi to let out a yelp as she stumbled backwards, and Joe to grab his free arm when he swayed unexpectedly.

"Whoa," Tai breathed. "That was weird."

"What was weird?" Izzy asked curiously. "What were you thinking about?"

"I was trying to find Sora," Tai explained as he shook off Joe's hand gently. "I didn't think it would work, but I found her."

"You didn't do anything though," TK told him. "You just froze for a long time."

"You know how Jade's been able to talk to us in our minds?" the leader asked as he started to walk with the others hurrying after him. "Well, I tried to do that. I didn't talk to Sora, but I was able to sense where she is. She's running away from us, but if we hurry we could catch up."

"You sensed her?" Matt asked uncertainly.

"Sure, why?"

"That's highly improbable," Izzy explained. "What you're suggesting is something akin to telepathy. Humans aren't capable of such a thing outside of science fiction novels."

"I know it sounds weird," Tai admitted. "But I've been doing this for a long time now. And I'm pretty sure that I heard Sora's thoughts when she was captured by Datamon. Remember Joe, Izzy? I asked if you had heard her screaming for help, but you hadn't heard anything."

"You can speak into our minds?" TK asked with wide eyes. "That's so cool!"

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you Tai," Joe spoke up. "But you realize how strange you sound, don't you? What you're talking about, it's not possible."

"You don't believe in magic?" Tai asked him as he glanced over his shoulder.

"You know, I find it strange how you humans think magic is impossible," Koromon stated as he hopped alongside Tsunomon.

"Most so-called magic in our world has a basis in science and can be explained or rationalized. " Izzy told him. "Magic itself is an illusion, and isn't real."

"Actually," Joe muttered. "I don't think that's true."

"You believe in magic Joe?" Mimi asked in surprised. "I thought you were studying to be a doctor? Aren't doctors super rational and believe in science only?"

"That might be true for most people, but I kind of got an invite to a school of magic last summer," Joe admitted sheepishly. "A magician came to our house and everything, but I had a nervous breakdown and spent a week in the hospital. My parents declined the offer, said it was all a hoax, and that I was going to be a doctor."

"Wow," TK breathed. "That's so cool."

"I haven't really thought about that for a while."

Tai filed that information away mentally, but otherwise let the others talk behind him about the improbability of magic. He didn't find it too hard to believe that there were schools that taught real magic, and magic did explain quite a few things that had happened to him. He remembered a conversation that he'd had with Agumon in the past, about power levels, and if that conversation was actually about the magic they had inside themselves then it would stand to reason that they would all get an invite to a school at some stage in the future. He pulled out his digivice and stared at the screen.

There was a little red dot to show that they were going the right way in finding Sora, which was a relief, but it wasn't the confirmation that he was right that invaded his mind. The world they were in was the Digital World, emphasis on _digital_, but magic still existed in some form. Was it magic that allowed each world to exist, or something else? Was it their magic that allowed them to come to the Digital World?

It was too confusing to think about, so Tai put it out of his mind. He wondered if he could reach out to the others, to see where they were, and thought hard about each of them. TK, surprisingly, was the first one he could 'see' and he was a bright yellow. Joe was grey, Matt was blue, Izzy was purple and Mimi was green of all colors. He thought about how he could sense them, but only when he was concentrating. As soon as he stopped concentrating they disappeared from his mind's eye. Was that how the digimon saw each other all the time?

"I'm tired," TK suddenly spoke up. Tai glanced back at him, surprised to note that the conversation between them must have ended a while ago and he hadn't noticed.

"Why don't we find a place to rest for the night?" Joe suggested. "Or better yet, the next couple of weeks? My feet are killing me, not to mention every other part of my body. I'm sure everyone else is feeling similar to me."

"I can't go another inch." Mimi agreed as she sunk to the ground in defeat.

"Wait just a moment," Matt told them. "I'm getting a reading on my digivice."

"Really?" TK asked excitedly. "Is it Sora?"

"Oh!" Patamon exclaimed suddenly, his ears sticking up like a bunny rabbit's would.

"What is it?" TK asked him in a curious tone.

"What's that buzzing?" Patamon asked. Tai tilted his head to the side. Now that Patamon had mentioned it, he could hear something though he had no idea what it was.

"What's that sound?" he muttered. His eyes, as well as everyone else's, snapped back along the path they had already traveled on in time to see a giant bee.

"Uh oh," Joe moaned.

"Flymon," Gomamon growled.

"Duck!" Tai ordered as he darted back to push Matt and TK to the ground so that the bee would fly over them without harming them. When he raised his head he did a quick head count and realised that everyone was unharmed yet shaken, and he pulled Matt up and pushed him out of the way as the digimon came back for another attack.

"_Ground stingers!_" Flymon called as stingers from its tail shot towards them and hit the ground where they had been standing. Joe grabbed Mimi to pull her off to the side, TK and Izzy grouped together near a tree, which left Tai and Matt in the middle of the path to play dodge with sharp pointy stingers.

"Careful Tai!" Koromon cried as a stinger narrowly missed Tai due to him stumbling to the side.

"Lookout Matt!" Tsunomon agreed as his partner tripped and a stinger hit the ground inches from his face. He recoiled with a sharp sound of surprise, but already the In-training digimon were digivolving to protect them. Gabumon and Agumon attacked the enraged Flymon, but even with Gomamon and Palmon joining in, Flymon was just too agile and none of their attacks hit them.

And then Birdramon appeared and with one attack was able to hit Flymon. The insect digimon fell to the ground in a ball of fire, but it was the appearance of Birdramon that brought new life to tired and weary legs. If Birdramon was around, it meant that Sora wasn't too far from them. So when Birdramon flew off Tai started to run after her, with Matt, TK and their digimon following close on his heels.

"We'll catch up! Don't worry about us!" Joe called after them.

"Follow when you can!" Tai ordered over his shoulder.

He narrowed his eyes and picked up his pace. He had no idea why Sora was running from them, but he intended on figuring it out soon.

* * *

Sora ran from her friends, though she had no idea why. She had just spent the last few months making sure that they were safe, but with Jade looking out for them as well she probably didn't have to do anything. She had managed to help Agumon out by warning him of the Mushrooms of Forgetfulness, but she had seen Jade sitting in a tree out of the way watching the group and knew that no harm would really befall them. She had helped Matt and Joe at the restaurant as much as she could without being seen, and she had gotten a certain thrill from being able to put a crimp in Demidevimon's plans. But at the Gekomon Palace, all she had been able to do was watch, she wasn't needed.

But then Tomomon's words would revolve in her head: _You so-called Protectors of this world need to work together. If one of you falls, you will all be defeated and this world will be destroyed far more effectively than I destroyed the Shadow World._ This was the digimon who had terrified Gennai, and had apparently destroyed the Shadow World, whatever that was, but he was insistent on them being together. But to be together they all needed to get their crests to glow, and she knew that hers would never glow.

She would be the weak link, she would be the one to fall, and this world would be destroyed because of her.

She ran faster, she couldn't let them catch her until she was ready. Yet she wasn't running fast enough as Tai, with his broken arm tied to his chest, had somehow run passed her to jump out in front of her and halt her progress. She wondered if she had miscalculated their location and turned around to run back the other way only to see Matt running up a little out of breath. He was grinning when he saw her though.

"Why are you running away?" Matt asked.

"What's going on Sora?" Tai asked as well. Sora frownedand slumped her shoulders in defeat. She had known that she wouldn't be able to run forever, but she had hoped that she could have done it for a little longer. Her head wasn't on straight yet. Matt spoke to her in concern, but she didn't answer him. TK, Agumon, Gabumon and Patamon suddenly arrived a lot more out of breath than the two older boys.

"Sora!" TK said in happiness, and then he saw her defeated position. He became sad. "Does this mean that you don't like us anymore?"

"No," Sora told him. "Of course not."

"Then what's wrong?" TK asked her as he stepped up next to Matt. His eyes drifted upwards as a familiar pink bird landed by Sora's side. Biyomon was concerned, but her tone was gentle as she spoke to her partner.

"Sora, why don't you tell them?"

"…okay," Sora agreed. "It happened the night that Biyomon and I left camp to look for Jade. I saw this strange digimon. He kind of looked like a bowling ball with wings, and he was talking to something in a giant bubble."

"So, could you hear what he was saying?" TK asked.

"Yeah, I heard him talking about our crests."

"What about them?" Tai asked seriously.

"He was saying that each of our crests have their own special meaning," Sora told him. "But what was strange about it was that he knew exactly who had what crest and how to make them glow. Jade never got around to telling me what mine was, but this digimon knew. It's the crest of Love."

"Love, huh?" Tai mused. "Appropriate."

"No it's not! You're wrong! Don't even say that Tai! It's not like me at all!" Sora yelled at him. Tai backpedaled quickly but he was more than surprised at how violent her denial had been.

"I will say that," he told her with a furrowed brow. "Because you're always thinking of everyone else, and you're always worried about others. You're more of a mother hen than my own mother!"

"What?" Sora stammered, her arguments disappearing out of her head at his statement. Surely he was exaggerating.

"When we played soccer, or ate in the cafeteria, or even walking home from school, you've always watched us carefully to make sure that none of us are hurt. You were concerned about Jade in the Pen Pal Project before she even started to write to you, and don't think that I didn't notice the oranges you slid into my bag so that I would eat after a game. And then there's how you've taken a mothering approach to TK and Jade, they love you."

"Tai seems to be your favorite victim," Matt told her. "When anything happens, you always look at him and express irritation if he is hiding an injury or something, like he has been doing since we got here."

"Hey!" Tai protested. "I do not."

"You do too Tai," TK told him with a solemn nod. Tai's spluttering was ignored.

"So Sora, why do you think you don't deserve your crest?" Matt asked.

"It won't glow!" Sora told him sorrowfully. "I just don't have any love!"

The three boys were confused, as they all thought that Sora loved more than any of them. Sora sunk to the ground and brought her knees to her chest, and Matt used the time to lean back against a tree and cross his arms, adopting his 'cool but aloof' position. The digimon sat where they had been standing, and TK sat next to them with Patamon now on his lap instead of on his hat, and Tai sat cross-legged on the ground while he massaged his left shoulder.

"You love us though, don't you Sora?" TK asked Sora sadly.

"I don't get it," Tai muttered. "What's Demidevimon's plan? Why is he trying to break the power of the crests? You shouldn't listen to whatever he told you Sora."

"Leave her alone Tai," Matt told him sternly. "Don't even joke."

"I wasn't joking," Tai told him.

"The digimon thought I was funny too," Sora interrupted them. "He laughed when we crashed into him. I asked him what he was laughing about, and he said that it was because my crest would never work for me…because I didn't know what love was."

"That's ridiculous," Tai told her firmly. "There's only one person in our group who could make that claim, and it's not you. Besides, you know that Demidevimon is a liar. Why would you believe him about this?"

"It's true though," Sora mumbled as she hid her head in her knees. "It started back when I was on a girls' soccer team. You remember when I hurt my knee at school Tai? Well, my mother prohibited me from playing in the grand finale. She told me that she wanted me to stop playing soccer and work in the flower shop. She cared more about those stupid flowers than my happiness. I hate flowers, and if she loved me even the smallest bit she would have known that. I stormed out on her and ended up at the soccer field. We lost, 6-3. My teammates were so depressed that they didn't even notice me as they walked passed. I felt like I had let them down."

"Sora," Tai started, but Sora cut across him.

"That's why he wasn't lying when he said I grew up not knowing what love is."

With a cry she stood up and tried to throw her crest away, but Tai leaped up as soon as she moved and grabbed her arm.

"Sora! Stop it!" he ordered her.

"Let go!" Sora cried at him, tears in her eyes.

"Even if what you said is true," Tai told her gently. "You shouldn't believe a word from that loser Demidevimon. He's just a creep that's trying to hurt you. Your mother does love you, and I know that she was probably scared about you getting hurt even more. I'm sorry that you got hurt when I was mucking around, and it led to this, but it's not your fault."

Sora burst into tears and threw her arms around Tai's neck. Tai closed his eyes at the weight on his arm, and he wondered what it was that made girls want to cry into his shoulder. Mimi had done the same thing, and it hurt Tai to think that he'd said something to upset her.

"Don't cry Sora." he told her as he wrapped his right arm around her.

"It's not your fault either you idiot," she told him. Tai smiled.

"I know you probably don't want to move," he whispered into her ear so that the others wouldn't hear him. "But could you not lean on my arm so hard? It hurts a bit."

Sora stepped back as if she had been electrocuted but Tai just smiled at her as he rubbed his upper left arm. She looked to be about to scold him, but TK's appearance at her side prevented her from making a scene.

"Sora, I forgot to thank you." TK told her. "You told us not to eat the mushrooms, didn't you? I want to thank you for saving us."

"Right TK," Biyomon told him happily. "We thought Demidevimon was up to no good so we kept out of sight and made sure you guys stayed out of trouble. We were even there when you guys were working in the restaurant Matt."

"I had no idea." Matt muttered as he thought about the week he'd spent working like a slave.

"You didn't have to hide from us," Tai told them. "We were all worried."

"Sora just needed to be alone for a little while." Biyomon told him so that Sora didn't have to. Sora was still staring at Tai suspiciously. "But she really didn't want to be separated from you guys. Please understand."

"Sora, I like you. So please, don't go away again." TK told her as he grabbed her hand. "I don't like being away from you. When you're around I don't miss my mum so much."

"TK," Sora breathed in shock. More tears fell from her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry."

As Sora leaned down to hug TK Tai tilted his head to the side like he was listening to something, or for something. He didn't move beyond that, but a smile did spread across his face. Agumon, who was watching him, was curious, but the arrival of the others prevented him from asking about it. In the end, he figured that Tai didn't need to be questioned on his actions, because he had gathered them all back together.

"Hey!" Joe called as he came into sight.

"Hey! What took you guys so long?" Matt asked as he pushed himself off the tree.

"Well, we would have been here sooner," Mimi told him as she came to a stop. "But Joe fell in the river."

"Hey Mimi, you're the one who was hungry and tired and needed to sit down every five minutes," Joe told her.

"Well we can't rest just yet," Tai told them all. "We should go find somewhere to set up camp. We can set a fire and eat some food while we decide on what we're going to do next."

"I'm hungry." Mimi told him.

"There's a clearing just around here," Sora explained as she started to move off the path. "It's only a short walk to the river for water, and Biyomon said that she saw food in the trees that we could gather when we first arrived here, and it's sheltered."

"Perfect," Tai announced. "Lead the way Love."

Sora looked at him in confusion at the endearment, before realizing that he was calling her by her crest name. Why would he do that? And who gave him the idea to do that? Tomomon had done that with Mimi, in fact, she couldn't recall the dark digimon ever calling them by their names even though he had to have known them. So why was Tai copying a dark digimon?

"Are we going to go after Jade now?" TK asked curiously.

"She'll come to us," Tai told him reassuringly. "I think she's on her way back from wherever she was."

"Is her partner going to be with her?"

"No," Tai tilted his head slightly as he thought. "He's watching over whatever they've been hunting."

"She was following Demidevimon so that they could find…Myotismon's base…I think," Sora told him. "I guess they found it. How do you know that she's on her way?"

"She told me she was," Tai told her with a smile. "She just happens to be a fair distance away and will probably be here around nightfall."

"Is this the telepathy thing again?" Mimi asked him.

"Telepathy?" Sora asked the other girl. That started up the same conversation as before, in how Tai could use his mind to find the others and speak to them. Tai ignored them; he knew what he heard and what he could do. It just so happened that he had a stronger mental connection with Jade than the others.

The clearing wasn't too far from the road, and as soon as they got there they divided up tasks so that they would be able to have a warm fire and food as soon as possible. Tai was forbidden from gathering food, at Joe's insistence, as he wanted him to rest his arm so that it could heal. Still, it didn't take long for food and water to be gathered, the fire to be lit and the food cooked if it needed to be cooked. They told stories about what they had done when they were separated, and they brainstormed about what Demidevimon could have been after.

Tai was also curious about Myotismon, but not one of their partners had heard of him before. It seemed that the only one who had was Jade, and she was hunting him for some reason.

As a group they decided that they would spend the rest of the day and that night resting as they didn't think that they had anyone chasing them. That, and they wanted to see if Tai was right about when Jade would get to them. So during this time, Tai found a tree to lean on and allowed his tired body to give in and sleep.

"Is he alright?" Sora asked Joe quietly as soon as she saw that Tai was asleep.

"I don't know," Joe told her. "He's…different."

"He's more mature," Matt added as he dropped down next to them.

"He's scared," Mimi revealed. "When I was being a spoiled brat he admitted as much. You know him the best Sora, what's his home life like?"

"He lives with his parents and little sister," Sora told her. "He loves them a lot, especially Kari. He's always protecting her. He was devastated when she got sick a few years ago and nearly died."

"His mother hit him," Agumon whispered as he looked at his partner. "When Kari collapsed in the park it was because she was playing with him, and his mother hit him and told him that if Kari died it would be his fault."

"That's horrible!" Mimi gasped.

"He was only eight or nine when that happened," Sora breathed. "He never said anything."

"That explains a lot though," Matt muttered. "He's always blaming himself for something, could it because his mother blamed him?"

"I think there's more to it than that," Joe cautioned him. "Tai has issues that he's working out on his own. We just need to support him when we can."

"And his arm?" Izzy asked. "According to Tai no time has passed in our world, how will he explain to the camp supervisors and his parents getting that bad a break?"

"We'll work something out," Sora told him. "I think I'm going to copy him and get some rest. I'm exhausted."

"Eat first," Joe ordered her. "It's bad enough that Tai refuses to eat, you're not going to copy him in that regard."

"We've all lost weight," Matt told Joe in confusion.

"Tai doesn't eat," Joe repeated. "Surely you've noticed. We've lost weight because of all the exercise that we've been doing, and the change in eating habits we've been forced to adapt to. Tai just doesn't eat if he doesn't think there's enough food for everyone."

"We'll save him some," Sora promised. "Now go and relax. Stop stressing for today. We'll stress more tomorrow about what we're going to do."

The little group dispersed, but despite Sora's request they were all worried. Mimi, Sora and Izzy hadn't noticed that Tai wasn't eating, and they were feeling guilty about it, but Matt was feeling guilty because he hadn't done anything to help, despite noticing what Tai was doing. Joe just wished that Tai would care about himself just that little bit more. He wasn't looking forward to trying to explain how they had gone from being healthy children to children who had lost a significant amount of weight in the space of a day.

* * *

Jade had shifted to her human form just after the sun had set so that she could move without being spotted. She was jumping through the trees, because she could, and humming a tune under her breath. At one point she had frozen as Demidevimon flew passed her, and she picked up the speed with a narrowed glare. Tom was getting closer as well, but he was still some distance off. That probably meant that Myotismon was on his way as well.

"No! Biyomon! Please wake up! Biyomon!"

Jade's eyes narrowed further. She was close enough the digidestined now to hear Sora's cries of despair, and she knew that Demidevimon had done something. She jumped onto a tree branch that was just above the children, but didn't move just yet as they were more than a match for Demidevimon. The digimon woke up and moved to attack the little intruder, but Jade's gaze was pulled upwards as thick black clouds crossed in front of the moon, casting everything into shadow.

When the clouds cleared the moon had turned red and a carriage pulled by a Devidramon appeared. She shivered and knew that the passenger of the carriage was Myotismon, and that Tom was following at a distance so that he wouldn't be seen just yet. Then, from the back of the carriage fell a coffin. From the coffin appeared Myotismon, a human like digimon with great resemblance to a vampire and wearing a red mask. He landed just a little distance from the children and digimon.

"Digidestined!" he called to them. "Your journey ends here."

"That's it! That's the thing that Demidevimon was talking to!" Sora cried as she pointed to him. Jade smirked at her calling Myotismon a 'thing', but it was Demidevimon who introduced Tom's creation to the children.

"Myotismon?" Tai questioned.

"It's Lord Myotismon!" Demidevimon corrected angrily. Myotismon started to laugh, and as he did Jade mentally requested Tom to remain in the air a little longer. He was Horcruxmon, but with as distracted as everyone else was, they didn't see him hiding in the darkness of the night sky.

"These digidestined are making me feel a little…batty," Myotismon told his servant. "_Grizzly Wing!_"

Myotismon thrust out his arms and a legion of bats rushed towards the children. Jade was all prepared to jump down and help, but the digidestined would never learn anything if she did everything for them. The digimon leaped forward instantly, all of them except for Biyomon who was almost unconscious on Sora's lap. Their attacks held back the bats, but the bats didn't just come at them in a straight line. Palmon digivolved once she noticed that the bats had flown around and were attacking the humans and sent out dozens of needles to drive them back, and then, Gomamon digivolved so that he could attack Myotismon.

"Uh oh," Jade whispered. The attack had no effect.

"You can't defeat me that easily," Myotismon told them with a cruel smile. He created a ball of red light in his hands and when he flung it, it became a whip. "_Crimson Lightning!_"

Moments later the digimon were on the ground, defeated, and Myotismon was walking towards them in dark anticipation. Jade clenched her fists and took a few steps back so that she could take a running leap and land in front of the children so that she could protect them. While she was preparing herself, Biyomon fought her way free of Sora so that she could contribute, and once Birdramon was flying Jade leaped.

Her sudden appearance startled the group, and in their surprise Jade pushed Sora back to the others to stop her from running after her partner. Myotismon used him _Crimson Lightning_ again and the attack caught Birdramon in the chest. She started to fall.

"Birdramon! No! Birdramon, I love you!"

Sora's crest started to glow, and as the tears fell from her eyes Birdramon began to digivolve into Garudamon. Myotismon hissed in anger and used all his power to attack the children before Garudamon could protect them. Jade held up her hands and imagined a shield surrounding them and protecting them.

"Jade!" Tai cried out just before the attack hit. Jade stumbled back a few steps from the force of the attack, but her imagined shield held strong just long enough for Garudamon to envelop Myotismon in burning fire.

"My crest," Sora stated happily. "It glowed."

"Of course it did, Love," Jade told her with a grin. "You don't think that just anyone can use the crests, do you?"

Myotismon ended his attack on the children so Jade dropped her shield. Garudamon rose up into the sky and unleashed her attack on Myotismon, causing most of the children to shield their eyes from the bright flames.

"_Wing Blade!_"

"_Grizzly Wing!_" Myotismon cried and sent his own attack at the approaching flames. Jade grinned in delight and started to walk forward, ignoring the others calling to her. She turned her attention to Garudamon briefly so that she could talk in her mind.

_I've got this Garudamon, get the children to safety._

_My Lady?_ Garudamon queried.

_Everything will work out, and you don't want to be here when Tom gets really angry_.

Garudamon nodded and ended her attack so that she could lift the children up in her giant hands.

"I did not anticipate such strength," Myotismon growled in anger.

"They're my Protectors, what did you expect?" Jade asked him. Garudamon had paused behind her as she was gathering everyone into her hands. Tai just didn't want to go and leave her.

"Your Protectors?" Myotismon asked with a laugh. "Who do you think you are?"

"Surely you recognize the Lady Sovereign?" another voice asked, the darkness in his tone encouraging Garudamon that it was time to go. Joe grabbed Tai and pulled him up and soon they were gone. Myotismon made no effort to go after them as he had spun around to see Tom slowly drifting to the ground.

"The Lady Sovereign was killed centuries ago."

"And yet, here I am," Jade told him. "What are you up to?"

"Or better yet, how would you like to die, traitor?" Tom asked coldly.

"Ha! You won't kill me," Myotismon crowed. "I have knowledge that you will lose if I die."

"I know you have the crest of the eighth digidestined," Jade told him. "I know you're trying to work out the key to get through the Gateway to the Human World. What knowledge could you possibly have that would prevent the Lord of Darkness from ending your existence?"

"The Prison World is weakening," Myotismon hinted with a grin in her direction. "Lord Lucemon grows stronger, he wants to be let out."

"We defeated him once, we can do so again," Jade told him unconcerned.

"But that was before the darkness was so thick in this world that you could just about taste it," Myotismon explained with a lick of his lips. "Your power is weakened, and without all eight of your Protectors you are easy pickings."

"You know who the Eighth is, don't you?" Tom guessed in disgust.

"The Protector of Light will be mine," Myotismon boasted. "And there's nothing that you can do to stop me! You're both too weak! You, _My Lord_, have done more to ensure the darkness succeeds in this world than anyone else ever has. It's just a shame that your power correlates to how strong the Shadow World is! With it almost gone, I bet that even the Dark Masters would be able to kill you one-on-one!"

Myotismon laughed before spinning on the spot and disappearing. Tom roared his anger, letting his cry echo outwards. Jade crossed her arms and thought about what Myotismon had said. It was true that both the light and the darkness needed somewhere to grow, and with the Shadow World in the state that it was Tom just didn't have the power to fall back on. He needed the other parts of his soul and a completed Shadow World. She hated to admit it, but if Lucemon did break free the Digital World, the Shadow World and the Human Worlds would cease to exist. Unless Myotismon was hoping that if he gathered enough power he would be able to challenge Lucemon, defeat him and take his place as the Supreme Ruler of the Worlds.

"We're in trouble," she summed up aloud.

"I hate that 'mon." Tom spat as he paced.

"He's right though," Jade told him. "The Shadow World is a mess, the light here is almost gone and it's only through the actions of the digidestined that there's some light here at all."

"So what's the plan?" Tom asked as he stopped pacing. The purple bell on his chest bounced at his sudden turn to face her.

"Go back to the Shadow World and rebuild it," Jade told him as she transformed. "I'm going to go to Myotismon's castle to wait for the digidestined. We'll stop him, don't worry. But we need the Prison World to remain strong, and it requires power from all the worlds to exist."

"Fine," Tom sighed. "I'm gone. But if you die while I'm rebuilding, I will destroy everything and no one will be able to stop me."

"Then I won't die," Phoenixmon promised. "Now go, I have a feeling that we're running out of time."

* * *

"We just left her there," Tai muttered as he kicked the ground. "She was _right there_."

"I'm sorry Tai," Yokomon told him sincerely. "But she ordered me to go, and the Lord of Darkness was there as well. You don't want to be around him when he's mad."

"Jade will be safe with her partner," Sora explained, watching as he paced. "He would rather die than let anything happen to her."

"So would I," Tai told her sullenly. "We need to be together, it's important."

"Hey Sora! How does it feel to have your crest glow?" TK asked, bouncing around her in delight.

"It feels great," Sora told him, her eyes remaining on Tai. "You were right Tai. My mother does love me, and she has all along."

Tai stopped his pacing and smiled at her.

"I guess you are capable of love after all," he said teasingly. He was glad that Sora was happy, and he was glad that they were almost all together again, but he was still missing one important member of the team that he couldn't go home without.

"We'll get her back Tai," Agumon whispered next to him. "You'll see."

* * *

The following day the children spent next to the river, soaking their feet and washing their socks…except for Izzy who was playing on his computer. Tai had pulled off his splint to soak his arm in the cold water, TK and Patamon were seeing who could make the biggest splash, Matt was playing his harmonica, Sora and Mimi were soaking their feet while they chatted on the side, and Joe standing in the middle of the river filling up plastic bags of water for them to carry. The digimon were pretty much relaxing while they waited for the next big disaster to happen, though they were also curious about the Human World. In that regard Agumon was the center of attention as he explained everything that he had experienced, including the plethora of food that was available.

Once Joe's water bags were full and safely packed in his bag did the boy make his way over to Tai. He sat next to him and stared at Tai's submerged arm.

"Can I see it?" he asked softly. They were far enough from the group that there was a little privacy, but not too far in that they could still be heard if they spoke loudly. Tai tensed at the question and hesitated, he really didn't want to pull the armband off.

"I want to see how bad the break is," Joe reassured him.

"It's fractured in a few places," Tai muttered. "But you won't be able to see it without an x-ray."

"Please Tai."

The request was soft and non-threatening, but still Tai was reluctant. No one had seen his arm since he had started to wear the armband, not even his sister and especially not his parents. But still, Joe had proven to be a reliable and trustworthy person and Tai trusted him more than he had trusted anyone before. So he pulled his arm out of the water and rested it on his lap.

"You won't say anything?" he asked quietly.

"Not a word," Joe promised.

Tai nodded and slid the armband off his arm and held it near the water so that his body was in the way of the other children and digimon seeing it. Joe's quick intake of breath let Tai know the moment he saw his secret, and he averted his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look at him. Joe gently held Tai's arm and twisted it gently to look at all angles of it, taking note of when Tai felt the most pain.

"How long?" Joe asked quietly.

"I was eight," Tai whispered. "I haven't done it recently."

"How recent?"

"Last summer," Tai admitted. "This past year, I just wrote to Jade. She made me feel better."

"Does she know?"

"No, no one does, except for you now."

Joe nodded. The scars on Tai's arm were old, but they were noticeable with the black bruise Tai had gained. The bruise itself was still dark, though the edges had turned yellow, and the bone hadn't moved when he manipulated it.

"I'd say that it's fractured in two, possibly three places," Joe explained as Tai slid the armband back on. "You'll live, but I want you to keep the splint on a bit longer, and the sling."

Tai sighed but allowed Joe to put the splint back on and tie his arm back to his chest.

"Now that Myotismon's chasing us, we're going to have to keep running liked crazed shoppers as the mall," Mimi spoke up, her voice carrying to all of them. Tai and Joe waded closer to the others. "He's just a big creep if you ask me."

"I'm going to have to agree with you on that," Joe told her.

"My wish is to never see him again! Period!" Palmon called over to her partner.

"That makes two of us," Sora told her with a smile.

"Gather round everyone!" Izzy called to them suddenly.

"I hope that means lunch is ready," Tai stated with a smile. TK giggled next to him.

"Gennai's back!" Izzy continued. "He wants to speak to us!"

Tai turned serious instantly and waded out of the water, gathering his shoes and socks as he went. The others weren't far behind him, and they all quickly encircled the projection of Gennai. Tai wondered what bad news the former human had to bring this time.

"Don't keep us waiting in suspense, what's this all about anyway?" he asked once he was sure everyone was there.

"Well, I've brought you some good news and some bad news," Gennai told them. "Which would you like to hear first?"

"Save the good news for last," Joe replied instantly. "I hate being depressed."

"He's a basket case anyway, let's start with the good news," Matt countered. Joe gave him a put out look but Matt just shrugged.

"Actually, you all look like you could use some cheering up," Gennai remarked. "I've been told another child will be joining your group."

"Another child?" Sora asked. "Who tells you these things anyway?"

"Well, this is someone you should want as a friend," Gennai continued, ignoring Sora's second question. "This someone is a digidestined."

"Really?" came the general question.

"I hope this new one will have a digimon that will be able to help us," Yokomon said excitedly.

"You and me both," Sora told her.

"The important thing to remember is that all eight of you must be together, as long as you are separated the worlds will not be in harmony with each other. Everything will go wacko, so you must find that other child as soon as possible."

"How do we do that?" Tai asked.

"I hope it's someone my size!" TK hoped.

"I hope she's my size so we can swap clothes!" Mimi also hoped.

"Tell us something about this kid," Tai suggested, cutting across both TK and Mimi. "Like, what's his or her name?"

"The name?" Gennai repeated. "It's…I forgot."

"Gennai," Tai whined.

"Calm down, I do know the location of the child, it's Japan."

"Japan?" Tai wondered. A digidestined was in Japan?

"Where is Japan?" Gabumon asked.

"Japan's a big island in the far east," Agumon explained.

"Agumon and Tai were transported there when our two worlds converged," Izzy added as Agumon nodded his agreement.

"If they ever converge again, maybe we'll all get to go home," Joe stated.

"Remember, that was the good news," Gennai continued, bringing them out of their thoughts.

"Can't wait to hear the bad," Matt stated sarcastically.

"Myotismon has heard of the eighth child and will be going to Japan soon. He's gathering his forces as we speak. If he gets to the child first, both of our worlds will be doomed."

"Doomed! We need some spies on the inside!" Tai cried.

"I already have some, or I did," Gennai admitted. "For the past few days, Jade and her partner have been stalling Myotismon so that you would be able to catch up before Myotismon goes through the door. Unfortunately, something happened recently and the Dark One has returned to the Shadow World and Jade is alone at the castle."

"Then we have to get there quickly!" Tai cried in even more alarm. The others agreed with him and soon Garurumon and Kabuterimon, weighed down by their passengers, were flying towards Myotismon's castle, and hopefully home.

* * *

Jade waited for Gennai to get back to her after talking with the digidestined. She had spent half an hour berating him for losing the eighth digi-egg, and then forgetting that there were supposed to be eight digidestined, before telling him that Myotismon was almost ready to travel to the Human World and was in the final stage of amassing his army to go through with him. He had turned off his connection to her in order to speak with the digidestined, so Jade was waiting somewhat patiently for him to return so that she would be aware that they were coming.

"It's been a long time, Little Princess."

Jade jumped and spun around to see who had spoken to her. Her eyes widened in surprise before a smile of pure delight spread across her features. Standing before her, now only a little taller than her instead of a lot, wearing a purple cape and wizard's hat, was Wizardmon. She rushed at him and threw her arms around his neck in her joy, and he hugged her back with just as much affection.

"I was wondering where you had gotten to," Jade said as she pulled back. "Have you kept in touch with the others? Dorumon and Kudamon? Guilmon? I met Andromon on File Island, but I haven't so much as heard of the others since my return? What are you doing here?"

Wizardmon placed his hand across her mouth to prevent more questions from spewing out. He looked amused, but there was also relief in his eyes. It confused Jade a little because Wizardmon had never been overly affectionate with her, nor had he played with her. His amusement faded from his eyes slowly as he gestured for her to sit down.

"I haven't kept in touch with the others, though I know where they are," he explained. "After you died, I admit that I went off the deep end for a while. To think that you had died, the same way my partner had died, and I hadn't been there to help…well, it was a bit too much. I wandered around for years, I don't know how long I avoided everyone."

"What happened after that?" Jade asked as she hugged her knees.

"I found someone I didn't expect to…or should I say, she found me."

"Who?"

"I think she's the digimon partner of one of the digidestined, but I wasn't sure at first. I know Gennai carried the eggs to safety, but I also thought that he'd keep them together. Then she started to talk about how she was waiting for someone who had never turned up, and I knew as surely as I knew who my partner was. So I decided to stay with her, to protect her."

"You're saying that a Protector Digimon is working for Myotismon?" Jade asked in disbelief.

"I am."

"That horrid digimon!" Jade cried as she stood up to pace. "How dare he?! No wonder he has the crest of Light! He shouldn't have been able to get it without the Protector or her digimon."

"He knows where the child is," Wizardmon told her. "He is moments away from activating the Gateway and traveling to the Human World. Once he gets there he will tear it apart until he has her, and once he does he will come back here and use her power to bend this world under his control."

"Over my dead body," Jade hissed. "This is my home! I won't let him tear it apart more than it already is! It's bad enough that Tom went insane and flooded this world with darkness, but he wants to destroy the world I was born in as well? Not happening!"

"So what will you do, Little Princess?"

"I'm going to go with the digidestined to protect both worlds, and I'm going to win."

Wizardmon smirked before standing also and putting his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him curiously, but said nothing.

"You remind me so much of your mother," he whispered.

"My mum?"

"Yes, if your hair was red I'd have called you her clone," Wizardmon continued. "The Protector of Loyalty, even at the end she stood with her family instead of running. I have watched out for you in her honor ever since."

"You rescued me," Jade breathed in realization, eyes wide. "I always thought that Lucemon…"

"I brought you to him, and he brought you to Gennai. The digidestined of the past were closer than family, but when Lily was killed it fractured them beyond repair. She was the one who held us together. Compassion has not returned to this world since then, but the others come when they can to make sure that Gennai is alright. Wisdom knows the identity of Light, as he and Determination helped in choosing the current digidestined."

"Gennai's memory is failing," Jade told him as she tried to gather her thoughts around the fact that her mother was one of the original. "The Protector of Trust no longer remembers the specific details, he has gone too long alone."

"He remembers you clearly though," Wizardmon reassured her. He removed his hands and turned away, and despite her desire to run back to him she let him walk away. "I will continue to protect young Gatomon, until her partner is found."

"Be careful, my friend." Jade whispered to him.

"And you, Little Princess. You are your mother's legacy, and I know that she would be exceptionally proud of you, just as I am."

With that Wizardmon turned and left, leaving Jade standing there. She ended up curling up next to a tree so that she could wait for Gennai to reappear next to her. No one had told her who Wizardmon's partner was, just that she had died. But now that she knew her mother was a former digidestined, the way she was treated suddenly made a lot more sense.

It was because she was more than Lucemon's successor, she was the daughter of their friend, and their hope for a better future.

And now she, and the digidestined, were the only ones who could possibly stop this disaster.

Every world hung in the balance.

It was time to fight.

* * *

**I'm glad you all liked my comparison to the Disney characters, your comments made me smile. Next chapter they will get home, and I know a lot of you are curious about what will happen. I eager to write it, and boy do I have a lot of ideas I want to put in. Just for a recap, I'll put down the original digidestined for you, their crest, and their digimon: **

**Gennai - Trust - Andromon **

**Akili - Wisdom - Kudamon**

**Michael - Determination - Dorumon**

**Lily - Loyalty - Wizardmon**

**Surprise Person I haven't Named Yet (I don't think, though some of you already know) - Compassion - Guilmon**

**And to my reviewers, the answers to your questions:**

**Liedral: Yes, Tai's mother was a witch, a muggle-born, but she doesn't practice magic anymore. She was trained in Japan, with a wand and all. That will be explained later. Tomomon loves to use his claws to scratch up his opponents, though we won't get to see him fight for a while. Glad you like my portrayal of him. XD**

**Larae: That's a surprise, though I have already mention her. See if you can't guess.**

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 20: Gateway to Home_**


	20. Gateway to Home

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Previously in Intertwined Destinies:_

_Etemon has been defeated, but the digidestined weren't unscathed. Tai was almost fatally injured and was saved by Jade when she transformed into Phoenixmon, but instead of fighting Etemon herself, Phoenixmon allowed Tai and Greymon to fight first. Greymon digivolved to the Ultimate level and became Metalgreymon, and it was his attack that opened a dimensional rift. Etemon was sucked into the rift, but before the rift could close Tai and Metalgreymon were also pulled through. He was pulled into the Human World where he realised no time had passed since they were first sent to the Digital World. Despite how much Tai wanted to stay, he knew he couldn't and foundhis way back to the Digital World._

_In the Digital World, the digidestined separated. Jade ran from them first and was finally reunited with her digimon partner who she calls Tom, no matter was digivolution he is in. In Jade's absence from his life, Tom went insane and destroyed the world that he ruled. It is also revealed that Tom was once a human, who tried to kill Jade when she was a baby, but when that failed his soul latched onto her. The shard was removed from Jade when she was first pulled into the Digital World, and that was how Tom was born._

_Tai and Agumon have found everyone and they are all together again. But Gennai has given them bad news: there is an eighth digidestined in Japan, and Myotismon, their new enemy, is on his way to get her. It is now a race against time to get home. If they lose this race, it will be more than the Human World that is in danger...every world will be facing its destruction._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 20: Gateway to Home

* * *

"The digidestined are nearby."

Jade turned her head from the castle to the transmission from Gennai. He was looking at her in concern, and Jade summoned up a smile for him. Wizardmon had left her about ten minutes before, and she hadn't really moved. To think, her mother had been one of the original digidestined, and no one had told her.

"What happened Jade?"

"Why didn't you tell me that my mum was Wizardmon's partner?"

"Ah, so you found out about that did you? Should I assume that one of Myotismon's henchmen told you?"

"Wizardmon told me," Jade informed him as he looked back at the castle. "Why was it a secret?"

"It was Wizardmon's decision not to tell you," Gennai reassured her. "It wasn't that we wanted to keep it a secret, but you looked so much like Lily that he couldn't bare to talk about her. He knew that you would have questions about her, questions that he just didn't want to answer."

"Oh…can you tell me about her?"

Gennai smiled and for the next hour or so he spoke about the adventures that he and the original digidestined had gone on, what he could remember anyway, and Jade listened with rapt attention as she finally got to hear about her mother. She was so engrossed in Gennai's tales that the arrival of the current digidestined surprised her.

"Jade!" Tai called out to her. Gennai stopped his story and allowed Jade to run over to the digidestined, meeting them part way, and hugged them. She was careful to avoid Tai's arm, but when she pulled back he looked at him sadly. He smiled at her and pushed her towards the others so that they could express their relief that she was alright as well.

"How are you Jade?" Joe asked as he cupped her face with his hands.

"I'm good," Jade said with a smile.

"Where's your partner?" TK asked curiously after he hugged her. "Gennai said that he was gone for some reason."

"He's gone to strengthen the Shadow World," Jade explained. "It's in a state of disrepair at the moment and unless we can get it repaired and soon, Myotismon is going to have a lot more power than any of us can deal with."

"Cool," Tai muttered. He turned to Gennai. "This is where Myotismon is going to go to our world?"

"The Gateway is below this castle," Jade told him before Gennai could answer. "It's the only one in this world that links to every other world in existence."

"How many worlds are there?" Mimi asked as she sat down next to Gennai's projection.

"…six, I think," Jade muttered as she counted them on her fingers. "This is the only place in the Digital World that links to all of them, though there are places that link specifically to one world or another. There's a whirlpool in the middle of the ocean that links with the Shadow World, but it's not a nice journey."

"This is good and all," Agumon spoke up. "But if we want to get in there we will need to do it soon. Palmon and I think that we can do it without being detected."

"There's a gate for volunteers around the corner," Jade told them. "You can pretend to join Myotismon's army to get inside, but you'll have to escape from whatever training regimen they put you under to get everyone else in as well."

"We'll be fine," Palmon reassured her. "Come on Agumon, let's go and join the army!"

Agumon and Palmon ran off, but once they were gone the others sat down to rest. Jade appeared at Tai's side and stared at his arm without saying anything. Very slowly, she lifted her right arm and placed it on the break, before closing her eyes and concentrating. It was harder in her human form, but she had spent most of her time when she was younger healing the baby digimon. This wasn't that much different.

White light glowed under her hand, and when she pulled it back she grinned and lightly punched Tai's arm to show him what she had done. Joe's horror-filled cry was interrupted by Tai's movements to pull off the sling and splint. Tai hesitated once, but then he pulled off his armband to show smooth tanned skin, and no marks or bruises of any kind.

"You healed my arm," he breathed.

"My God," Joe added under his breath as he stared at the arm.

"Jade has always been happy to use her healing powers on the baby digimon when she was here last," Gennai explained as the children gaped at Tai's perfectly healed arm. "Why are you surprised?"

"She did save Tai's life," Sora pointed out.

"But that was as Phoenixmon," Izzy told her. "At the moment she's…well, she's Jade."

"I'm still the same person, no matter what I look like," Jade told them. "It's just easier as Phoenixmon to heal otherwise fatal injuries."

Tai surprised her by pulling her into a hug and thanking her over and over under his breath. As he had come at her from behind she just held his arms and smiled. When he released her he fiddled with his belt and pulled off two sandals that she had noticed earlier but hadn't asked him about. He handed them over to her, and she hesitantly took them.

"They're Kari's," he whispered as she took them. "You look like you have the same size feet as her, so I brought them back with me so that your feet would have some protection. You won't need to rely on sheets and towels to protect your feet anymore."

His thoughtfulness touched Jade, and without a word she sat down and pulled off the dirty cloths she had used and slid her feet into the sandals. They were just about perfect, and they matched her outfit. When she stood back up she walked around in them, spinning on the spot and jumping up and down. She grinned.

"You're the best Tai," she told him as she hugged him. "I'd forgotten what it was like to wear shoes."

"You're welcome," Tai told her, blushing slightly.

"So, this Gateway," Sora started, clearing her throat. "Where is it exactly?"

"My theory is that Myotismon sent Demidevimon to distract us while he stayed behind to prepare the Gate," Izzy muttered as he stared at the castle walls. "Truly an ingenious plan on his part."

"A good theory indeed," Gennai agreed.

"The Gateway is below the castle," Jade told Sora. "I've only been here once before, and that was just briefly so that Lucemon could check over the security. Tom and I have used other gates quite successfully without needing to resort to using this one."

"Who is Lucemon?" Mimi asked curiously. "I don't recall hearing that name before?"

"He was the ruler of the Digital World and the Shadow World before Jade and the Dark One took over from him," Gennai explained. "The pressure from maintaining two worlds was too much for him, and he tried to destroy the Digital World so that he wouldn't need to deal with both."

"Why the Digital World?" Matt asked. "Why not the Shadow World?"

"Because his mind was flooded with darkness," Jade explained. "There are more than just dark digimon in the Shadow World, there are dark creatures from the Human and Magical Worlds as well. With the darkness getting stronger, Lucemon decided that he would continue to rule the stronger world, and eliminate the weaker one."

"What happened to him?" Gabumon asked.

"Tom and I defeated him and imprisoned him in a world where he could never get out again."

"The Prison World," Yokomon realised. "That was where you feared Tai and Agumon had ended up."

"Right."

"Yes, he's there now," Gennai added. "But with the state of things he may very well break out and there would be nothing any of us could do to stop him. The Shadow World is just one world that helps support the borders of the Prison World, and with it just about destroyed, the borders are weaker. If Myotismon succeeds in finding the eighth child and bringing the child back here, the Prison World will end and Lucemon will once again be free."

"Everything we know will be destroyed," Jade added solemnly.

"We're doomed," Joe stated tonelessly.

"No we're not," Tai told him. "Have faith, we'll defeat Myotismon before this Lucemon guy can get out."

"Of course we will," Jade agreed. "I'm going to help, and then when I come back I'm going to push back the darkness to where it belongs and bring this world back into the light."

"I'll help," Tai promised.

"Me too," TK added with his hand in the air. "I like this world."

"How about we take this one step at a time?" Matt suggested. "We need to defeat Myotismon and find this eighth child before we can contemplate anything else."

"I agree with Matt," Joe said instantly.

"I want to go home," Mimi added. "I don't want Myotismon to hurt my family."

"Same here," Izzy agreed. "We need to prevent him from doing anything to them, and that means getting into this castle and to the Gateway without being detected."

"Agumon and Palmon have certainly been gone a long time," Tai said as he turned away from the group. "It's not that I'm worried, it's just that, well, I hope they're looking for where the Gateway is located."

"They're coming back here before they go looking for it," Jade reminded him. "They'll get lost if they attempt to find it without you guys to back them up."

"Give them some more time Tai," Matt suggested. "They'll be alright. Now come and eat something. You too Jade, there's plenty here for everyone."

Tai and Jade looked at each other straight-faced before breaking out into grins and joining Matt on the ground. They would eat, and then they would fight.

* * *

"I'm worried," Tai admitted half an hour later. The food had distracted him for a while, but now that it was gone his attention was on his partner and Palmon again.

"We have to be patient," Matt repeated without opening his eyes. He was taking a cat nap under the nearest tree. Mimi and TK were next to him, though they weren't resting their eyes. Izzy was talking to Gennai about the new Digimon Analyzer that he has on his computer, Joe was pacing around their resting point, much to the annoyance of the others, and Sora was brushing Jade's hair.

"Hey look! They're back!" Mimi suddenly called as Palmon used her vines to create ropes and hang them over the side of the castle.

"Sorry, we had a big bruiser on our hands," Palmon called down apologetically.

"Are you both alright?" Jade asked as Sora put away her hairbrush. The two digimon nodded and that was the signal to rush over to the wall.

"Let's go!" Tai ordered. Palmon wrapped one of the vines around his waist, and the other around Mimi's, before pulling them both up easily.

"My signal is useless inside the castle, so you're on your own," Gennai told them as they left his side. "I'm counting on you."

"We got it covered!" Tai told him as he was pulled up.

"I hope so," Gennai stated. "You must stop Myotismon from carrying out his plans and protect your friend in Japan."

"We'd better move it!" Palmon agreed as soon as Tai and Mimi were up safely. The vines fell down again to pull up the next two, Jade and TK, and then so on and so forth until everyone was up.

"Why isn't your arm bandaged anymore?" Agumon asked Tai once he was up.

"Jade healed it just after you left," Tai told him as Jade appeared over the side. Agumon grinned and bowed a little to Jade. Jade just giggled and hugged him.

"So, who were they using to train you, and how did you escape?" she asked as she pulled back.

Demidevimon had recruited Nanimon, a ball like digimon with muscular arms and legs and thick black sunglasses, to train the small group of Numemon, a Sukamon and a Chuumon. Nanimon had an obsession with soda, and when he drinks a lot he passes out from the bubbles going straight to his head. Agumon explained how a Numemon had climbed a wall and thrown down soda bottles, and once Nanimon passed out the two of them ran so that they could get the other children and digimon inside.

"So, what now?" Mimi asked as soon as the last person, Joe, was up.

"We don't have much time," Izzy reminded them. "I suggest we split up and when we find the Gateway signal for everyone else."

"Splitting up didn't really work last time," Mimi continued nervously. "What if we never find each other again?"

"I agree with Mimi," Jade said. "Why would you want to split up in Myotismon's castle? Just because Demidevimon was unable to gather a ferocious fighting force, doesn't mean that there aren't horrible digimon willing to harm any who don't belong. There is only one digimon in this castle who won't harm you on sight."

"I agree with Izzy," Matt told her. "In smaller groups there's less chance of being spotted. TK and I will go together, and we can use the digivice to find each other again."

"And we will always know where each other is," Patamon added.

"We need to stop debating, and get a move on," Joe said reasonably. "The longer we argue, the more time Myotismon has to do…whatever Myotismon is doing."

"Right," Izzy said. "Come on Tentomon."

Tai went to call out to him, but Jade just put her hand on his arm to prevent him from making a sound. He sighed and clenched his fists, but otherwise remained silent.

"We'll go this way then," Matt said next. "Come on TK."

"Coming Matt!" TK called as he ran after him. Patamon and Gabumon hurried off as well, and Tai turned to look at the others.

"We'll be fine Tai," Sora told him. "Us three will stick together, you and Jade go off and explore."

"I don't like splitting up," Tai advised her.

"I'll look after you Tai," Jade said innocently. "You'll be safe with me!"

"That's not what I meant," Tai told her.

"I know!"

Jade grabbed Tai's hand and started to lead him down a corridor that hadn't been used yet. Tai waved back to the others, but otherwise allowed Jade to lead. The only thing he did was tighten his grip on her hand so that she wouldn't be able to escape without him noticing. Agumon walked slightly behind them, and he was whistling a jaunty tune quietly as he moved.

"What do you plan to do when we go home?" Tai asked Jade after a few minutes of silence.

"Go with you of course," she replied. "How else will I help with Myotismon?"

"You will probably be forced to go with your classmates back to England."

"I would, if we could get a flight in such short notice," Jade told him calmly. "You may not have been aware of it, but the weather is a little strange at the moment. Snow in summer? Remember that? I estimate that it will be a few days before we can go anywhere."

"But-?"

"Tai, I can get access to the Digital World from anywhere on Earth," she told him sternly. "You will not be fighting alone, I will be there with you, I promise."

Tai nodded at her, but he was still unsure. The three of them came out into a labyrinth of walkways, and Jade gaped in amazement. Her head twisted and turned in every direction as she tried to figure out which way was up, and which way was down. They kept walking, though no matter what walkway they ended up on, they couldn't get to anywhere else.

"Something's totally weird here," Tai suddenly stated as he paused on the fourth walkway they'd ended up on.

"What?" Agumon stated.

"We've passed this way before," Tai told him.

"How can you tell?" Jade asked. "Everything looks the same."

"Is that you Tai? Jade?" Izzy suddenly called. Tai and Jade looked around in confusion before realising that Izzy was calling from below them. They looked over the railing to answer him.

"Yeah, we're up here!" Tai called. "Have you found anything unusual down there Izzy?"

"Well, you could say that Tai," Tentomon answered instead. "The truth is you are down there, and we're up here."

"I think you guys may need glasses," Agumon corrected. "We're way up here above you."

"But there's no way!" Izzy protested. "That's scientifically impossible!"

The five of them were on the same walkway, but as Tai, Jade and Agumon were on one side, directly underneath them were Izzy and Tentomon. It was like gravity was pulling them to the center of the walkway, allowing one of them to essentially be walking on the roof.

"This is so cool," Jade grinned. "What do you think would happen if I jumped off the edge?"

"You are not testing out that idea," Tai told her instantly.

"You're no fun," Jade said with a pout.

"I think we need to regroup," Tai called down/up to Izzy, ignoring how odd it was. "We need to reassess our options."

"How?" Izzy asked him. "I don't see any way of getting together again."

"That's easy, follow your digivice!" Jade called. "We'll wait here for you and the others, and then we'll figure out what way to go."

"Alright," Izzy agreed as he pulled out his digivice. He disappeared shortly after and Jade sat on the railing casually.

"You should call the others," she said.

"How?"

"We've been able to talk mind-to-mind for a while now, try it with them. Just, don't shout what you want to say. Find their presence in your mind, and talk to them."

"They're colors in my mind," Tai admitted.

"Really? That's cool," Jade told him with a smile. "I feel their emotions. Everyone feels everything differently, but I've never seen color unless I'm searching for the crests. They had a color."

Tai nodded before leaning on the wall next to her and closing his eyes. He sought out all the different colors he had identified before, and thought what he wanted to say to them.

_We need to meet. Follow your digivices to me so that we can come up with a new plan._

The message sent he opened his eyes and looked around. He hoped the others had heard him, but it would rely on them believing him to see if it had worked. Izzy was the first to arrive, though that could have been because he was already on his way. But it was his comment that made Tai smile in a self-satisfied way.

"You didn't need to call after me Tai. I was already on my way."

Joe, Mimi and Sora were the next to arrive, all three of them looking at Tai curiously, and then Matt and TK arrived with TK rushing up to Tai and asking him how he had talked into their minds because it was awesome and he wanted to be capable of doing it as well. Izzy stared at Tai like he wanted to dissect his brain, which was kind of creepy, but the others looked apologetic for doubting his claim to telepathy to intrigued at the possibilities telepathy would give them.

"So, we're all lost," Matt began to break the awkward atmosphere in the group.

"My theory is Myotismon has set up these optical illusions to deter us from finding the gate," Izzy theorised.

"Well, I'd say he succeeded," Tai quipped. "We're still as lost as we were before we started!"

"All we've done so far is go round and round in circles and we don't know up from down," Sora complained.

"It's making me dizzy," Joe agreed.

"Huh?" Gomamon suddenly interrupted, his ears directed away from the group.

"What's up?" Joe asked him

"Someone's coming," Gomamon identified.

"You sure?"

"You doubt me?" Gomamon asked his partner. Tai pulled Jade off the wall so that they could duck down out of sight as a mass of digimon walked passed them on another walkway. They appeared to be walking on the roof, and while it irritated Izzy that he couldn't figure out how the optical illusion worked, it concerned the others because it meant that Myotismon was finally making a move to leave the Digital World.

"They seem to know we're they're going," Matt observed.

"Maybe we should try to follow them," Sora agreed.

"They'll lead us to the right place," Tai decided. "Let's go everyone. We're running out of time."

* * *

The digidestined and Jade ended up at the top of an extremely steep staircase, and while it was with relief that they realized it was downhill from there on, they could hear Myotismon preaching to his forces far below. They started to run.

"I shall now be embarking on a journey to another world," Myotismon was saying. "There are forces that need to be neutralized before our victory here will be complete. But never fear, I shall return in triumph."

A cheer went up from what equated to his army, and the children ran as fast as they could without tripping and rolling the rest of the way down.

"It's time to stand back and watch me work my magic," Myotismon declared. "Open the gate to my destiny!"

There was a loud groan, and Jade gasped as her feet faltered on the step. Tai caught her before she could hit the ground, but all Jade did was order them to go faster because the Gateway was open.

"Company move!" a female voice ordered. Jade wondered if it was Gatomon, the eighth digidestined's digimon partner, but hoped not because that meant that Myotismon had totally brainwashed her into forgetting her duty.

The group came into sight just as the last digimon entered the Gateway and Myotismon began to walk towards his carriage. The Gateway was massive, tall enough that a giant could walk through easily without banging his head, and possibly with another giant on his shoulders. The white light of the Gateway flooded the dark chamber with light, and through the Gateway Jade could just make out the different pathways possible.

"No," she breathed as she forced Tai to put her down. She ran faster. "You will not win!"

"You're not going anywhere!" Tai yelled to Myotismon. "Not as long as we can help it!"

"What is your name?" Myotismon asked him in annoyance. "Can't you see I'm busy at the moment? Find another dark digimon to fight against."

"Yeah, right!" Tai snapped back.

"Demidevimon, would you please take care of this annoying gang of hoodlums? I have better things to do," Myotismon ordered his servant still sitting next to the carriage.

"Of course sir, anything you want. I'm at your service," Demidevimon told him. He flew over to just in front of the children to block their way. "I'm not letting you get passed this gate."

"Fat chance you twerp!" Tai told him. "Agumon!"

"I brought reinforcements," Demidevimon boasted. "It's all yours Nanimon!"

"Right, don't even think about passing by me. You got it?" Nanimon told them as he and his collection of Numemon moved in front of them.

"Farewell, digi-doomed," Myotismon laughed as he traveled through the Gateway.

"Alright, let's fight!" Nanimon declared excitedly.

"We don't want to fight you guys but the future is at stake," Agumon told him sadly.

"You'll have to forgive us," Palmon agreed.

The digimon, aside from Patamon and Yokomon, digivolved into their Champion forms to tower over the small digimon in front of them. The Numemon ran off with a yell, leaving Nanimon on his own. Nanimon looked up at the five tall digimon with his mouth slightly open, before pulling out a white flag from nowhere and surrendering, much to Demidevimon's alarm.

"We're coming through!" Tai warned the two.

"Don't let me stand in your way!" Nanimon told them as he ran off.

"You might as well give up," Matt told Demidevimon.

"I'm outnumbered! Good help is so hard to find!" Demidevimon moaned.

"Just admit you picked the wrong side and give it a rest already," TK told him wisely.

"If you're trying to frighten me it won't work!" the little digimon stated bravely, while at the same time shaking in fear. Jade grinned as they started to push forward, but before they could go too far another presence made herself known.

"You haven't dealt with me yet!" Gatomon called from the front of the Gateway. Jade almost cried at the fact that Gatomon couldn't even recognize her fellow digimon partners, and felt glad that at least the small cat had some affection for Wizardmon as he would protect her. Gatomon charged at the Champion digimon, and with a few swipes of her claws and athletic leaps, she bested them all.

"That was too easy," Gatomon goaded. It probably didn't help that she was so small compared to her opponents, but she was playing with them and mocking their abilities.

"To the Gate, everyone!" Tai ordered while Gatomon was looking the other way. He grabbed Jade's hand and pulled her along behind him, though once she got her feet moving she was keeping pace with him.

"We've got to get through!" Sora cried desperately as she clutched Yokomon tighter to her chest. The other children ran after them, but even playing as she was, Gatomon saw them and saw fit to stop them.

"Hey! I don't think so!" Gatomon cried as she used the power of her tail ring to bring to life the Devidramon statues around the room. The three statues she brought to life landed in front of the fleeing children. Jade growled and threw a ball of fire at the nearest one. It recoiled with an angry screech as she had burnt his eyes, but his cry only encouraged the other two to attack them with everything they had.

"I don't think so!" Greymon cried as he leapt over the children to protect them. He and the Devidramon began to wrestle on the ground, but the other one used his hypnotizing power to freeze the other digimon. Gatomon knocked them down easily in their inability to move, before making her way to the Gateway before it closed.

"How about that for some awesome fighting?" Demidevimon asked them in delight. "We got you beat by a mile!"

"You haven't won yet!" Togemon told him as she rushed forward with her eyes closed and boxing gloves up. The cactus digimon pummeled into the Devidramon, freeing the others. Garurumon and Kabuterimon joined up with Greymon, and the three of them soon turned that Devidramon into ash, leaving nothing left. Jade flinched at the loss of life, but otherwise she kept running.

"The Gate's closing!" Tai realized in horror. This spurred the other children on, and encouraged Patamon to rush forward so that he could prevent Demidevimon from escaping.

"Move it you flying bean bag! I'm going through!" Demidevimon told him. Patamon said nothing but just attacked.

"_Boom Bubble!_"

"This way!" Tai decided as he pulled Jade along around one of the two remaining Devidramon. The second dropped down in front of them, effectively cutting them off from the Gateway. They were trapped.

"We're not going to make it," Jade realised in horror. She gathered more flames in her hands and pushed aside the Devidramon in front of them. But even as she attacked she knew that not all the children would get through before it closed.

"Come on, we have to make a run for it while we have the chance!" Matt cried, refusing to believe Jade. He was pulling TK behind him, and as Jade threw another fireball she decided that if some wouldn't get through in time, she would stay with them.

"Tai! Watch out!" Greymon roared. He leapt over the group and spear tackled the Devidramon about to jump on them. He digivolved into Metalgreymon and with two attacks his superior power defeated the last of the Devidramon.

"He did it! It's clear sailing from here!" Matt cheered.

"Come on everybody! Let's get through that gate!" Tai ordered.

As they ran, Patamon, who had kept Demidevimon from getting through, was blindsided by Gatomon when she joined in and sent him flying away from the Gateway. Demidevimon wasted no time in rushing through with a cry of relief, but Gatomon paused just before going in so that she could get the last word.

"Sorry, but you're too late," she stated with an evil grin. "We'll miss you in Japan."

"No Gatomon!" Jade cried. "Don't do it! Myotismon is just going to kill you."

"I'm his most loyal digimon," Gatomon bragged.

"No," Jade whispered sadly. "You're not."

"We're almost there!" Tai encouraged the others. Jade stopped running and started to walk. She knew what was about to happen but not even her power could keep the Gateway opened when it was almost closed.

"Goodbye!" Gatomon waved before she turned and disappeared. The Gateway closed with a bang behind her, but not before Gatomon awakened another group of Devidramon for them to fight against. Tai, still running as fast as he could, crashed into the now closed doors and bounced back into the arms of the others.

"Oh no!" he breathed in horror.

"This cannot be happening!" Sora agreed, her own eyes wide. Tai forced the others to let go of him as he began to bang on the door.

"No! Open up! Open! This can't be!"

Tai started to cry in defeat, his fists hitting to door over and over again. The others didn't try to stop him, so Jade reached out and wrapped her small hands around his arm. He looked at her with such defeat that she knew she needed to fix him, give him something to work towards.

"This isn't the only gate to the Human World," she told him, and the others who were close enough to listen. "Gennai will know where the nearest one is, or he will know how to open this one. We need to get to him, and soon."

"Right," Tai agreed. He rested his hand on Jade's head. "Metalgreymon, we need a way out of here!"

"One exit coming right up!" Metalgreymon agreed. His attack blasted a hole through the nearest wall before his energy ran out and he de-digivolved to Koromon. Tai darted forward and caught him before he could hit the ground before continuing to run through the new door. The others ran off behind him and as soon they were rushing though the castle to the outside world. As soon as they were free of the castle they ran as fast as they could back to where they started. The only stop that they made was for when TK tripped and Matt stopped to pick him up and put him on his back.

"This way guys!" Jade called as she veered off from the group. "We'll be caught if we go back to the castle wall!"

"Where are we going?" TK asked.

"The forest!"

"Why there?" Mimi asked even as she started to follow her.

"Because there we can hide from the forces that Myotismon left and get into contact with Gennai!"

No more questions sprung up as they ran, but as soon as they were in the clear they staggered to a stop and struggled to catch their breaths. Jade punched a tree in frustration, but only once for she turned and leaned against the tree just after that, her arms crossed in her annoyance.

"We were too slow," Tai summed up with equal frustration to Jade.

"So you didn't make it through then?" Gennai suddenly said as his projection appeared in the middle of them.

"Nope," Jade said for the others.

"Myotismon has shut the gate," Gennai gathered. "You can't follow him now."

"Listen pops, you've got to help us get through that gate," Matt said, angry. TK was still on his back. "The eighth kid will be doomed if we don't."

"And that isn't all," Sora added. "If that rotten creep goes on a rampage in the Human World, lots of innocent people will get hurt."

"There must be some way that we can open the gate again," Tai moaned as he kicked the dirt.

"Well of course there is," Gennai told him.

"No kidding?" Tai stated with hope in his voice.

"How then?" Sora asked in a calmer tone of voice.

"Any door will be opened with the right keys," Gennai said in a mystifying way.

"Oh, don't be so mysterious Gennai!" Tai ordered.

"Follow me to my house and I will explain everything," Gennai told him.

"Your house?" Jade asked.

"Where's that?" Koromon questioned.

"Look above you," Gennai ordered. His projection disappeared for a few seconds as he did something they couldn't see before returning again.

"What kind of directions are those?" Mimi asked baffled.

"Very good ones if you'll just listen."

"Huh?" everyone asked.

"Keep looking and you shall see it," Gennai said easily. Their eyes traveled up as they looked for a sign or something. Jade had never been to Gennai's house, having just assumed that he lived in the lab. Though, the lab was probably destroyed now thanks to Piedmon so Gennai would have needed somewhere else to live.

"There, a search light," Matt discovered, pointing his hand towards the beam of light that was traveling to and fro across the sky.

"Sorry, I ran out of maps," Gennai told him. "Follow the light, you can't miss it."

"Excellent," Tai muttered as he stepped towards their new destination.

"Snack time for me!" Gennai said in delight as he faded from sight. Jade giggled and jumped to follow Tai. The others were quick to join them, not wanting to be left behind, but no one spoke as they traveled. They were all much too tired and hungry and depressed to do so. Of course, by the time they got to the location of the search light, voices of disbelief were started up. The light was coming from the center of a wide lake.

"Looks like we are going to be swimming," Joe deadpanned.

"My hat! My beautiful hat!" Mimi cried in horror as she clutched at her pink hat.

"Either we got our directions really wrong," Matt began. "Or Gennai's house is in the middle of a lake."

"So that's why I never found it," Izzy mused to himself.

"So how do we get in?" Joe asked curiously.

"I can check it out!" Gomamon told him as he dove into the water before resurfacing. "This water is amazing!"

Just then the water started to bubble and light up. From the search light a beam of light shot towards the shore where they were standing, and the water disappeared.

"It wasn't me!" Gomamon defended as each child and digimon looked at him. He was now sitting on a set of stairs that disappeared into the lake. It was a path of some kind.

"Steps?" Tai muttered. Jade appeared closer to his side and grabbed his shirt. She really didn't feel comfortable walking down a path surrounded by water. Tai rested his arms across her shoulders in comfort.

"They go all the way into the lake," Palmon observed.

"They must lead to Gennai's place," Matt stated.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tai asked them. "Let's go down."

He and Jade ended up leading the group, and the others followed quickly if they separated again. TK complained that the path was slippery, and Jade agreed but she was holding onto Tai so that she wouldn't fall. TK was struggling on his own. Mimi brought up the rear of the group with Gomamon, her hands still holding onto her hat as she stared at the schools of fish that would swim by either side of them.

From up ahead they were able to make out a house, and Jade gasped in delight as she saw it. She let go of Tai as soon as they were off the steps and started to run through the garden, ignoring as her friends called out to her, but she had seen the person she wanted to.

"Gennai!" she cried as he turned from the little bridge in his garden. He smiled when he saw her and she rushed up to him to fling her arms around his neck. He hugged her back just as tightly before turning to the children and their partners.

"It's good to see you made it here safely," he told them.

"It's the real Gennai," Izzy stated in awe.

"He shorter than I imagined," Gabumon muttered.

"I got old, Gabumon," Gennai told him, proving that his hearing was better than his memory. He was only just a little taller than Jade, because he had previously towered over her.

"So tell us, how come you're always hiding?" Tai asked to spare Gabumon becoming embarrassed at being overheard.

"I'm not," Gennai protested as he gestured for Jade to walk back to the others so that he could follow her.

"Well you could have come in person, but you always used projections, right?" Tai clarified.

"It's just a show to impress you," Gennai admitted.

"What kind of person are you anyway?" Joe asked.

"A human? Or some kind of digimon?" TK elaborated.

"That is not important," Gennai told the two of them.

"How come you call us the digidestined?!" Mimi asked very loudly. Jade winced and rubbed her ears.

"Easy, I'm old but I'm not deaf," Gennai told the girl in pink. "You were chosen to save this world and your own."

"But just how _were_ we chosen? Why us?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, we only signed up for summer camp," Sora continued.

"That is all you need to know for now. Come inside," Gennai gestured, linking his arm with Jade's as he moved. "The most important thing is to return to your world and find the eighth child."

"We're in more trouble than that," Jade whispered to him. "Myotismon is using the eighth digimon to hunt for the eighth child."

"Is that why Wizardmon was at the castle?" Gennai asked equally quiet.

"He's protecting her until the eighth child's identity is revealed."

"You could try to get in contact with Michael or Akili," Gennai muttered. "They would remember who we picked."

"You've been here too long," Jade scolded him.

"A couple of millennia isn't that long," Gennai reassured her. "Besides, I'm never bored."

He led the group inside and they all sat at a table while he went off to prepare a presentation for them. TK rushed over to the window to stare at the fish while they waited, but Jade gratefully sat down on the soft cushions and rested her head on her crossed arms on the table. Tai collapsed next to her, followed by the others, and they all reveled in the fact that they could rest without anyone trying to attack them.

"The fish are so pretty," Mimi observed with a sigh.

"But those are porgies and flounder," Joe identified. "They're salt water fish."

"I built them a few years after I moved here," Gennai explained as he re-entered the room they were in. "I got lonely, and robots are a specialty of mine."

"Is that because Andromon is your partner?" Koromon asked. "Jade showed me a photo of you when you were younger, and the first generation digidestined's digimon."

"You were a digidestined?" Tai asked in disbelief.

"He was one of the original five," Jade spoke up as she lifted her head. "Though, the original digidestined didn't come from Japan alone."

"I came from Brazil," Gennai elaborated. "But I have not been back in the Human World since the Great War between Lucemon and the powers of darkness."

"Could you tell us about it?" Izzy asked with great interest.

"Maybe later," Gennai promised. "Now, observe closely."

A map of the Human World rolled down from where it had been hidden and Gennai raised a fan as he zoomed in section by section to a specific point on the map.

"That's Japan," Joe said at the first zoom in.

"And that's Tokyo," Mimi said for the second.

"And that's the Nerima District!" Tai concluded as the last shot appeared. There was a red circle right on the centre of the picture.

"It's also where Myotismon now is," Gennai told him with a nod. The children all gasped, and Matt slammed his hands on the table in alarm. Tai turned to look at him and asked him what was wrong.

"That's a mile from where we live," Matt told him.

"He's in Hikarigaoka," Tai agreed. "He must think that the eighth child is there."

"So you are keeping an eye on the Human World," Jade mused as she stared at the screen.

"Not as close an eye as you probably would like for me to have," Gennai told her as he left the room. Jade jumped up and followed him, the others quickly following her to a room of hundreds on little draws. Gennai used a ladder to get to one of the shelves at the top, while Jade pulled out a draw nearest to the ground in curiosity. She discovered a draw full of photos of Gennai when he was younger with the other digidestined. What surprised her, however, was that the young image of Gennai had a very familiar pair of goggles around his neck. With a smile she shut the draw and turned to look at the old man.

"You've become a hoarder," she identified.

"I have not," Gennai told her with a frown. "Not all these draws have my belongings in them. There are also gifts from digimon, keys, if I may use the term, to go anywhere I want, and a new project I'm working on."

"Can I hear it?"

"Maybe later," Gennai promised. "You have bigger problems at the moment."

"We do," Tai agreed from where he was standing with the others somewhat impatiently. "Please tell us how to open the gate back to our world!"

"You certainly are impatient," Gennai remarked. "Keep your goggles on my young friend. You'll need these."

"Check 'em out!" Matt cried as ten cards were placed on the ground in front of them. They crowded around to look at them, and Jade tilted her head in curiosity. Each card had one digimon on it, and she was familiar with all of them except for one: Shogungekomon, Drimogemon, Kuwagamon, Gazimon, Elecmon, Agumon, Digitamamon, Andromon, Unimon and Gomamon.

"Digimon key cards," Tai stated.

"There's one of me!" Gomamon pointed out happily.

"And one of me as Agumon!" Koromon added.

"But what are they for?" Mimi asked

"And how do they help us open the Gate?" Tai asked again.

"Do you remember seeing nine holes in the slate in front of the gate?" Gennai asked them all as a group. Jade thought back and vaguely recalled Myotismon standing near a stone slate in the middle of the room. She hadn't gotten a close look at it, and so couldn't remember what was on it.

"Um…yes, there was!" Izzy remarked as he too, remembered the slate.

"You need to place these cards into the holes."

"But you gave us one card too many," Izzy pointed out. "There are ten cards here."

"There's one card I'm not sure of that's mixed in," Gennai admitted sheepishly.

"Which hole do we use for each?" Tai asked curiously.

"Well…I forgot."

"That would be too easy," Joe moaned as his and everyone else's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"How many cards combinations do you have in those draws?" Jade asked.

"Oh, about…seven, I think," Gennai said gaily. "I haven't needed them for a while, but I did accidentally mix two sets together once and I couldn't remember which card went with the second set, so I just kept them together for someone else to deal with."

"Oh well, we'll just put the cards in a random order and go with that," Tai suggested.

"You can't do that!" Gennai cried in horror. The old man continued to scold Tai from a distance, shaking his finger in his face. "If you do you'll get thrown into a completely different world. There's also the danger that you won't be completely restored on the other side!"

"What do you mean?" Mimi asked, staring at Tai in concern as he was harshly scolded. Gennai cleared his throat and tried to explain to Mimi the possibilities, and Jade had to restrain herself from laughing out loud. She knew that there was a danger if the combination was wrong, but Gennai's scenario seemed really unlikely.

"In other words…you might switch skin with the person or digimon you went through with."

"NOOOOO!" Mimi screamed in horror.

"That's why, unlike Myotismon who did this by speaking an incantation," Gennai began, doing his best to talk over Mimi's continued screaming. "You will need to solve this with your own abilities."

"But there are so many things that are unknown to us," Joe protested.

"You must learn to use your powers, like Myotismon is using his," Gennai told him seriously as he started to pick up the cards. He handed them to Tai. "Tomorrow I'll teach you the proper usage of the cards. Relax and enjoy yourselves tonight. The enemy won't find you here."

Jade grinned and ran off to the bedroom and pulled out a futon from the cupboard for her to use. There were still another dozen or so in the cupboard, and she knew that the others wouldn't begrudge her own bed for the night. She found a nice corner and spread out the futon, pulled off her sandals and backpack, her shirt and her skirt, and slid under the covers. By the time the others joined her, having followed at a slower pace, she was comfortable and warm.

"Gosh Jade, that was fast," Sora teased as she set up her own futon next to her. She and Biyomon would be sharing. Jade grinned at her before diving down deeper with a laugh.

"Sleep well tonight everyone," Tai ordered as he set up his futon across from Jade. "Tomorrow, we're going home."

* * *

The following morning Jade was awake first. She managed to fold up her futon, sneak out of the room, wash up next to the stream outside, which was weird for her as they were still underwater, and cooked breakfast for the others to eat once they surfaced from sleep, without waking anyone. Gennai looked in on her once, wondering what she was doing, but didn't interrupt her. He did, however, give her a slip of paper with several numbers on them as well as names and addresses.

"What are these?" she asked as she put them into her bag.

"Akili and Michael's contact details, for help with finding the eighth digidestined," Gennai explained as he turned to leave. "But remember, Akili lives in Kenya and Michael lives in America. The phone bill will probably be high so be careful whose phone you use."

Jade nodded and returned to cooking. Out of everything she did for her relatives, cooking was the thing she enjoyed the most…as long as her aunt wasn't looking over her shoulder and criticising everything she was doing. She had the food on the table and served shortly after that, and the smell awakened the others as they appeared not long after to see what was on the table.

"Wow," TK breathed as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "Did you make this Jade?"

"Yep!" Jade said proudly as she sat down. "I don't normally get to eat my food, so this will be pretty cool. I have no idea what it tastes like, but Gennai seemed to like it."

"I'm starving!" Joe announced as he entered. "Food!"

With that he fell on the prepared food like a dying animal, and the others joined him so that they would be able to eat something before he devoured it all. Izzy sat next to Jade and was finally able to ask what had bugged him since the previous day.

"When you were talking about Lucemon yesterday, you mentioned something about the Human and Magical Worlds," he began. "What is the Magical World?"

"Pretty much exactly what it sounds like," Jade said after she swallowed a mouthful of food. "On Earth there is a group of people who call themselves witches and wizards, and they hide in what they call the Wizarding World. They use their magic to stay hidden but have pretty much stagnated in the Dark Ages. According to Tom, the British 'wizards' still use quills and candles and have no idea what computers are."

"You mean, magic exists?" Sora choked out.

"Of course," Jade said seriously. "Granted, it's only since my memories returned and Tom explained it all to me that I started to believe it as well. I'm pretty sure my relatives know about magic, that would be why they hate me, as they've told me every day since I arrived at their house that magic didn't exist."

"What about in Japan?" Joe asked with a mouthful of food.

"Tom never went to Japan," Jade admitted, not showing how disgusted she was seeing the food in Joe's mouth. "He was more concerned with taking over England than visiting other magical cultures. Why?"

"I got an invite to a magic school last summer," Joe continued, this time after swallowing. "My parents turned down the invite, and I thought it was a hoax, but since coming here I guess I started to consider that it might not have been."

"Wow Joe, why don't you eat the bones too?" Sora asked as she stared at his thoroughly cleaned plate.

"I was hungry," Joe protested. "I'm a growing boy!"

"I would talk with your parents when you get home," Jade suggested. "Admittedly, I don't know much about the Magical World, and I'm not exactly excited about attending a magical school so backwards that it would feel like I was going back in time every time I went to school."

At that moment Gennai entered the room with a smile and Izzy's laptop in his hands. Jade grinned at him and dropped the topic of conversation so that she could pay attention to the former leader of the digidestined.

"Good morning all," he greeted.

"Morning!" everyone greeted in return.

"Izzy, I completed the changes to your computer," Gennai said as he handed over the laptop. "When you insert someone's digivice into this adapter, the information of all the digimon that its owner has met will be added to the Analyzer. I've also installed several new programs. Take a look at the manual when you have time."

"Thank-you!" Izzy told him as he slid the laptop into his bag.

"It might be tough for you, digidestined, but you must always have faith in your abilities. Never forget that," Gennai told the rest on them.

"I'll never forget this stomach ache," Joe moaned as he dropped his head on the table. "Jade, your food is too good."

"Joe! This is serious!" Sora scolded him even as Jade blushed at his compliment.

"I've done all I can do, I can no longer help you once you return to Myotismon's castle," Gennai stated apologetically. "Now go, children, and good luck!"

"Gennai, wait a minute," Jade called after him as he disappeared. She ran after him as she allowed the digidestined to prepare for their departure. "Could you keep an eye on Tom for me? He's repairing the damage he caused in the Shadow World, but I'll still be gone a while."

"I'll do what I can," Gennai promised. "And, if you run into the digidestined of Compassion in Japan, could you remind her 'once a digidestined, always a digidestined'? And that Guilmon misses her a lot."

"Sure," Jade agreed. "Take care of yourself old man."

"You too, Little Princess."

* * *

"This place looks even scarier than it did the first time," Joe announced as they walked along the outside of the castle. Tai looked up at the dark walls without saying anything, though his hand holding onto Jade's tightened just a bit more. Jade looked at him and tightened her hand in response. This time, she would ensure that they got through.

At the entrance to the castle the children and digimon looked inside to see two Devidramon pacing the halls, guarding the entrance. Jade sent out her empathy to look for more digimon inside the castle, and down near the Gateway was a group of digimon in wait. She nodded to herself, those she could look after on her own.

"How do we get past the Devidramon?" Izzy asked quietly.

"Leave that to me! I'll take them out while you go in," Tentomon volunteered. Tai looked over his shoulder at Izzy, who was looking at him as if asking permission, and nodded his agreement to that plan. Tentomon then digivolved all the way to his Ultimate level, Megakabuterimon, and as the children and other digimon ran into the castle, Megakabuterimon attacked.

"Now! While he's distracting them!" Izzy cried as they ran faster. Jade took the lead as they entered the space warp, and as they were running across the roof there was another explosion and the group fell to the stairs that had originally been above them. As Jade looked up from where she was under TK and Gabumon, she noted that no one was hurt beyond a few bruises from where they had hit the stairs. She pushed TK off her gently and smiled at him to show no hard feelings.

"Motimon!" Izzy cried as his digimon partner made his way bouncing down the stairs. He caught the In-training digimon easily.

"How was I?" Motimon asked.

"You fixed the warp in space!" Izzy told him in delight.

"Come on! Let's get to the Gate!" Tai ordered. "Lead on Jade!"

Jade saluted and then started to run. It was easier now that she didn't need to navigate through the space warp, but it still took a good couple of minutes of running to get to the hole Metalgreymon had made the day before and then rush over to the Gateway. As the children stopped running to get out the cards Tai had in his pocket, Jade looked around the back of the Gateway and noted that it was a free-standing door. It really was pretty cool, and she wondered who had had it commissioned.

"We've got to figure out the pattern in these cards!" Tai stated as he made groups of the cards on the ground. Jade skipped over so she could look as well.

"A clue?" Sora asked.

"Good one…bad one…funky one?" Tai suggested, pointing to different combinations he had thought of.

"Maybe…rookie, champion and ultimate?" Joe guessed.

"Or could it be small one, medium one, big one? How can we be sure? And we still don't have a clue about which card is the fake one," Matt stated.

"Maybe it's where they live. Water, or land…?" Sora suggested.

"How about colors?" Jade asked. "There are three colors: red, blue and green. Maybe they're in groups?"

"Maybe number of syllables in their names?" Mimi added as well.

"What's the matter?" Motimon asked Izzy as the boy walked away from the group to look at the stone slate.

"…A–gu–mon makes three…" Mimi was muttering as she stared at the cards.

"Since Myotismon opened the gate with magic, the pictures on the slate must also have something to do with magic," Izzy told his partner. Jade scurried over to where he was, and finally got a look at the slate that was so important. The slate was set up in a grid, with three images across the top: a lion, an archer, and a monkey; and down the side were groups of stars: one star, then two stars, then three stars. The nine slots corresponded to an image and a star, though Jade had never seen anything like it before.

"…An-dro-mon…it still doesn't fit!" Mimi cried, still trying to see a pattern "Izzy, what are you looking at?"

"I've seen these marks from occult pages on the internet," Izzy told her, calling over his shoulder without moving his eyes from the slate. "The lion and the archer are from the twelve zodiac constellations. But the monkey isn't a part of it. Also, these stars…"

"Do you know what they mean?" Motimon asked.

"No…but there must be some significance behind them," Izzy muttered. Jade nodded, but she didn't answer for at that moment the castle around them started to shake and small rocks started to fall from the ceiling far above them.

"Matt, what's that sound?" TK asked fearfully.

"I don't know," Matt admitted.

"It sounds like something awful," Mimi added as she backed up closer to the group.

"I'll go check it out," Patamon cried as he flew off from TK's arms.

"Come on guys, we have to figure out the cards," Tai called to bring their attention back to something more important.

"What's the point? We'll never unlock the Gate," Joe said pessimistically.

"Don't even say that Joe!" Sora ordered.

"Even if we put the cards in the holes so they look right, we have no way of knowing if we got it right until it's too late," Joe told her reasonably.

"We have to try Joe," Matt argued.

"Something tells me we don't have much time!" Tai stated as he shuffled the cards again to come up with another combination that could work.

"We have trouble!" Patamon informed them all as he returned. "The castle's crumbling!"

"What?"

"It has to be my fault! I broke the ceiling earlier!" Motimon moaned.

"It's not your fault," Jade told him sternly. "It's Myotismon's for building it in such an unstable way."

"Anyway, all the passages are blocked!" Patamon continued.

"That means we can't go back the way we came in," Matt realized. "We're trapped!"

"Now we have to open the Gate," Izzy stated. "One of us has to choose nine cards and put them in the holes, and that will be that!"

"Tai," Joe decided instantly. Jade looked up sharply in confusion.

"Me?" Tai asked him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, it's your call," Joe agreed.

"Mine, why is up to me?" Tai asked again with a little more alarm than before.

"I'm not saying I don't want the responsibility," Joe reassured him. "It's because I believe in you."

"What?" Tai gaped.

"Me too!" Matt agreed. "In times like this, we should follow the leader's decision."

"Hey! Since when did I become the leader?!"

"Do you remember when you were gone Tai?" Matt questioned him. "We fell apart without you around. And after all that weren't you the one that got us back together again?"

"That was…just by coincidence!"

"Just do it Tai!" Mimi cried as she wrapped her arms around her body.

"Mimi?" Sora asked her in concern.

"You've never let us down before," Mimi continued. "And aside from that one time when you went a bit off the deep end, you've been there for all of us to make sure that we're alright and have enough to eat. You've led us since the beginning, it's just time that you realise that we all believe in you."

"Yeah, we have to believe in our friends," Sora agreed. "Remember what Gennai said?"

"Yeah, he said to believe in our power," Matt remembered. "You believe don't you Tai?"

"Maybe," Tai said weakly.

"Come on, we've gone through a lot of weird stuff already," Joe reminded him. "If we hadn't stuck together we never would have beaten Seadramon."

"Or smashed Tyrannomon," Matt added.

"Or escaped from Toy Town," Mimi agreed.

"And I'd still be making French fries in Vegimon's diner if you hadn't saved me," Joe concluded.

"Even if we end up in a different world, we'll still be together," TK stated happily.

"You can do it Tai!" they all told him. Jade smiled up at him, happy that he was getting the belief and acceptance that he needed. She knew that he hadn't really believed it before, but having all the examples of his leadership and their teamwork thrown in his face, he was finally being forced to accept just how important he was.

"Alright!" Tai agreed. The castle around them continued to crumble, but Tai just grabbed the cards and shuffled them as he looked at the Gateway. Jade could sense the other digimon she had felt earlier coming closer, so she moved slightly off to the side of the group so that she could attack first and spare them the drama.

"I want to make sure of this one more time, will you guys really follow my decision?" Tai asked as he turned around to look at them again. "That whatever I say is the best way and you're all willing to go along with it?"

"Yes," everyone nodded.

"Well, I've decided I want Izzy to do it," Tai revealed.

"What? You do? Why me?" Izzy protested.

"If that's what Tai thinks then I accept that!" Mimi agreed instantly.

"Me too," Matt added, ignoring Izzy's stuttering. "Don't worry Izzy, Tai believes in you and so do the rest of us."

"But what happens if I'm wrong?"

"No one will blame you," Mimi reassured him.

"We all know you're the right one for the job Izzy," Tai stated. "Go for it."

"I still have no idea how this all fits together," Izzy mumbled as he stared at the slate.

"Maybe you could use your computer to help figure it out?" Motimon suggested.

"If I had access to the internet here, I would be able to ask people who know more about the occult…"

The digidestined waited behind Izzy, not one of them talking to that he could think without distractions. He opened up the Analyzer on his computer, and as he scanned through the digimon he had seen an idea came to him. He started to mumble to himself as he linked up a digimon with the images on the slate.

"Wait a minute…the horse, the lion, and the monkey! That's it!"

"_Remember, all digimon are classified as data, virus or vaccine_."

Gennai had spoken to him the night before, and their conversation had been about the digimon. It was like Gennai was hinting to the answer without actually giving it to him.

"Could it be?" Izzy muttered. He looked back at the others. "Who here has met up with Digitamamon and Shogungekomon?"

"I have!" Joe said as he raised his hand.

"Give me your digivice," Izzy requested. He quickly pulled up the two aforementioned digimon and thus his idea began to pan out. "Prodigious!"

"Did you figure it out?" Tai asked.

"I think I might have," Izzy told him as he drew in the dirt so that he could show his idea so that they would understand him. "Come on guys, check this out. The first three images: the lion, the archer and the monkey, would be Leomon, Centarumon and Etemon. In addition, there's one of each classification: Vaccine, Data, and Virus. The stars, starting at the top represent: Rookie, Champion and Ultimate. So now we can put all the cards in the right squares."

From left to right and top to bottom the cards now read:

(1 star) Gomamon/Agumon – Elecmon – Gazimon

(2 stars) Unimon – Drimogemon – Kuwagamon

(3 stars) Andromon – Digitamamon – Shogungekomon

"You did it Izzy!" Sora stated in delight as she stared at the cards.

"Good work, I knew you could do it!" Tai agreed.

"Wait a minute, not so fast, there are two cards here," Izzy protested as he pointed to the Gomamon and Agumon cards. "One of them is the fake but I don't know which one. So that's it. I'm sorry, but we still aren't certain where the Gate will open to."

"But we made it this far. You did great!" Joe told him as he stood up and applauded. Everyone followed his example and Izzy started to blush at their appreciation.

"Tai can do the rest," Sora told him.

"Okay, you did great Izzy," Tai stated with a smile. "Thanks!"

Just at that moment the oncoming digimon, Dokugumon, appeared and Jade leapt from the children so that she could fight. Dokugumon was a giant spider, and definitely evil to the core.

"Intruders in the castle have to be destroyed!" Dokugumon cried to her brethren. "Go get them!"

"Put the cards into the slate!" Jade ordered. "I've got this!"

"Wait! Jade!" Tai cried.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry…we're running out of time!" Koromon told his partner. Tai growled under his breath but still quickly dropped all but the first two cards where they belonged. He vaguely noted that Jade had been right, all the cards grouped into their colors. Behind him, Jade was blasting the smaller Dokugumon to pieces at a rapid rate so that they couldn't get to the children. Still, Gabumon and Palmon digivolved to help her and keep the children safe, and Jade looked at them gratefully before blasting the larger enemy. Her attack had little effect.

"Which one is it? Agumon or Gomamon?" Tai muttered desperately.

"Tai, hurry!" Mimi cried from his left shoulder.

"It doesn't matter which one!" Joe added from his other side.

Dokugumon used her poison thread attack to wrap up Garurumon, Togemon and Jade, before attacking them with a purple mist. The three of them screamed and Jade set herself on fire at the same time as Garurumon digivolved into Weregarurumon. The threads cut instantly, and Jade dropped to the ground with a thump. She shivered at the icky feeling the purple mist had given her, but otherwise glared upwards unaffected.

"Tai!" Mimi cried.

"Are you still choosing?!" Matt asked him in disbelief. Jade looked over her shoulder before running towards the group.

"Pick one!" Sora ordered. Jade leapt over the slate, grabbing the two cards and held them up to Tai so that he couldn't see which card he was picking. She ordered him to grab one.

"Alright! I've got it!" Tai decided. He pulled the Gomamon card from her hand. "This one! Open the Gate Gomamon!"

"Please?" Joe begged as he turned to face the Gateway.

"Open!" Mimi begged as well.

Jade spun around as the Gateway started to open, and cheers of delight echoed behind her.

"It's opening!" Sora cried.

"Alright!" TK cheered.

"Let's go!" Tai ordered. He lifted Koromon into his arms and pulled Jade along behind him as he ran. Jade turned back to the fight that was still going on between Dokugumon and Weregarurumon.

"Finish it Weregarurumon!" she ordered. "You have to leave now!"

With one last swipe of his claws Dokugumon was defeated. Catching the now de-digivolved Tsunomon, Matt ran as fast as he could to the Gateway just as it started to close. Jade grinned in delight as he got through just as it slammed shut, and then the eight of them and the seven digimon were rocketing through a tunnel of light.

They were going home.

* * *

**I love you guys, I really do. I'm hoping to get season 1 done before my muse disappears. Next chapter will be the digidestined back in the Human World, and your guesses as to who the Digidestined of Compassion is made me smile. I guess I wasn't as obvious as I thought I was. A clue, before I reveal the identity: the Digidestined of Compassion is female. Another few more chapters and I will reveal who she is!**

**Answers to questions:**

**KhaalidaNyx: Yes, haven't decided yet, probably not, and in the future he will.**

**Dark Neko 4000: Wizardmon's partner was Lily Potter, and she's already dead. He has decided his fate.**

**Gaikinglord100: Good guess, but no XD**

**Wicken25: It would be awesome, but he's not I'm afraid. Good ideas though, which I may use later...**

**Orez Lanrete: Good guess, but no.**

**Liedral: I love your questions. Yes, Tom's power is related to the Shadow World and his soul. He will absorb them, but not yet. Once the Digital World is back under control he will be able to go hunting. He doesn't have the luxury of being able to disappear for a few years. Once the timeline is fixed he'll be able to, and will.**

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 21: Home at Last_**


	21. Home at Last

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Gennai has given the digidestined bad news: there is an eighth digidestined in Japan, and Myotismon, their new enemy, is on his way to get her. It is now a race against time to get home. If they lose this race, it will be more than the Human World that is in danger...every world will be facing its destruction. The children and digimon have just opened the Gateway to the Human World and are on their way there now._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 21: Home at Last

* * *

Jade opened her eyes slowly and immediately noticed that she was lying in the snow. She sat up, looking around curiously, and saw a cabin directly in front of her. Behind her was a lake, and off to the side was a giant tree. They were back at the campground where they had started their little adventure.

"She's awake!" TK cried suddenly. Jade looked to where he was, and spotted the other children just behind him. It looked like they had just woken up moments earlier, and she was the last one. She grinned even as Tai appeared at her side and lifted her out of the snow. He was warm and she wrapped her arms around his neck so that she could stay where she was.

"This is where we left for the Digital World," Sora said aloud. "…but where are the digimon?"

"It couldn't have been a dream, right?" Izzy asked in fear. Tai put his hand on his shoulder, using the other to keep Jade off the ground, and looked around.

"Maybe it _was_ the wrong card?" Sora stated in despair.

"No, it was the right one," Jade reassured her. The children all looked at her in confusion before she pointed off towards one of the walking trails. Standing there were the seven digimon, and they looked to be hiding something behind their backs.

"Looks like you're all awake," Palmon observed even as Mimi just about burst into tears of joy, on top of the tears of relief to be home that were already falling across her cheeks.

"Where were you guys?" Tai asked.

"Looking for food," Gomamon answered. "We figured you'd be hungry so we went and found some berries!"

From behind their backs the digimon revealed that they had picked the local wildlife in order to find something to eat. Thinking of food, Jade had a feeling that she wouldn't get much of it in the coming days as she would be returning to the joy that was her cousin.

"Ha! This is Japan, so you don't have to eat that stuff anymore!" Joe realised as he stared at the bushes. He was smiling as he thought about the food that they would be able to eat now that they were somewhere familiar.

"You'll be able to eat nicer things!" Mimi agreed with stars in her eyes.

"Put me down Tai, I've got shoes on," Jade told him. "Go and see to Koromon."

Tai did as she requested, and once she was down she opened her backpack to organise her belongings. The slip of paper Gennai had given her was on the top, and she stared at it curiously before hiding it down the bottom of the bag. It was as her hand brushed across the bottom that her fingers hit something small. She pulled it out in confusion before a smile lit up her face as she recognised her birthday present. She slipped it on her wrist happily before closing up her bag. Her photo was with the slip of paper, and she knew that none of it would make sense to Dudley if he raided her bag.

"Hey Tai? Why didn't you choose my card?" Koromon asked from where he was now perched in Tai's arms.

"Your card?" Tai asked in confusion, before realising what he meant. "Oh, I wanted to keep it as a souvenir."

"That's so nice…" Koromon said before narrowing his eyes at Tai. He could see through the lie. Jade just giggled and handed over the card that she had kept. Tai waved it at his friend before sliding it into his pocket for safe keeping. He then turned his attention to the rest of the children, ignoring Koromon's glare.

"Hey everybody, we've got to go and find the eighth child!"

"Yeah, and we've got to get a move on as Myotismon got here ahead of us," Matt agreed with Tsunomon under his arm.

"Hikarigaoka! I'm so happy we're finally going back to my old home!" Tai stated happily. "And we know that that's where we're going to find the eighth child!"

"How do you plan on getting to Hikarigaoka?" Jade asked curiously. "How far is it from here? You can't just run away from camp."

"It is a bit far from where we are," Sora admitted. "We'd never be able to walk there in a day."

"And Myotismon is already there," Joe pointed out. "We'll need to get a lift there."

"You don't think Myotismon has found the eighth child yet, do you?" Sora asked the group worriedly.

"According to my calculations, not even a minute should have passed between Myotismon's arrival in Hikarigaoka and our appearance here," Izzy reassured her. "The flow of time is different between the worlds."

"Yep!" Jade stated happily. "It's still my Life Day!"

"Oh! That's the longest birthday ever!" Mimi gaped. "We've been in the Digital World for months!"

"But that's impossible," Joe stated as he tried to wrap his mind around it. "You're saying that all our adventures took less time than to say 'Happy Birthday Jade'?"

"It was like that the last time I travelled to the Digital World," Jade told him reassuringly. "Granted, I was in the Digital World for a few years, but only a few hours had passed and no one noticed that I wasn't in my…room."

"How can we know that the same thing happened here?" TK asked. Jade pointed to the ground without saying anything, and waited until someone realised what she was pointing at.

"That's where the digivice hit the ground," Matt realised first as he spotted the seven little craters. "They look like they were made only a few minutes ago!"

"Right," Jade agreed. "No time has passed."

"I'm going to check out the camp," Tai told them. "For them, they would have just experienced a snow storm. I want to know what is happening."

"I'm coming too!" Jade told him as she ran off after him. Gomamon, Koromon and Biyomon followed her, though when Koromon slipped he crashed into Tai, alerting him that there were quite a few more people coming behind him.

"You don't all have to come," he told them.

"I thought I'd keep you company," Mimi told him.

"And we're going to keep Mimi company," Joe added.

"I guess we're all pretty curious to find out what happened while we were gone," Izzy explained.

"But how will we explain it if someone sees our digimon?" Tai asked them.

"They're a group of toys that we found once the snowstorm ended," Jade said instantly. "A large bag crashed into the side of the cabin, scaring us all, and once the storm was over you investigated and discovered seven toys. You're taking one home for your sister, Joe thinks he's too old for one, and the rest of us grabbed on each."

"Why do I miss out?" Joe asked her curiously.

"Because I'm stealing Gomamon off you," Jade told him seriously as she picked up the mentioned digimon. "You're also the oldest, and you feel that you have to set an example for us younger kids, and you don't have any younger siblings."

"Oh," Joe replied.

"Kids! There you are!"

"It's…our teacher," Sora gaped.

"Why is he running?" TK asked curiously. Tai walked forward a few paces as Mr Fujiama came at them very quickly. The teacher's hands dropped onto Tai's shoulders as he inspected him critically.

"Are you kids alright?" he asked. "Why didn't you answer earlier?"

"We didn't hear you," Izzy admitted. "We've just gotten free of the cabin we hid in."

"You eight were the only unaccounted for children, I am so glad that I found you," Mr Fujiama continued as he let go of Tai's shoulders. "Everyone is gathering their belongings so that we can get you guys home."

"Why?" TK asked curiously.

"We can't stay camping in the snow, Takeru," Mr Fujiama explained easily. "So, we're going to get you guys home."

"But what about the English students?" Tai asked with wide eyes as he looked at Jade. "Where are they going?"

"They're going to camp out in our gymnasium until they can get a flight back to England," Mr Fujiama answered. "We'll be sharing our buses with them so hurry and grab your belongings."

Jade really didn't like the thought of spending the rest of the trip in a school gym. Dudley would be unbearable, more so than usual. Mr Fujiama then turned to her and started to talk in English. It had been so long since she heard her birth language that she blinked in shock before listening to what he was saying.

"You need to grab everything you brought with you and find Ms Rein," he said. "She's looking for you, and I feel I need to warn you that the other teachers from your school aren't happy with the delay."

Jade nodded her understanding before Mr Fujiama turned back to the others and questioned them about the dirty toys in their hands. Jade scooped Gomamon off the ground, and into the mind of every digimon she ordered them not to make a sound, no matter what they heard. They did as she ordered, and the children stuck with her explanation about their discovery. When Mr Fujiama looked back at Jade and Gomamon, he opened his mouth to tell her to put it back as it wouldn't be allowed on the plane to go back to England but the words were caught in his throat when Jade gave him an honest smile of joy. To make it more convincing, she hugged Gomamon tighter and rubbed her cheek against his.

"If it can't go home with her," Joe began, seeing the shock on their teacher's face. "Then I'm sure Hikari won't mind having another doll to add to her collection."

"Very well," Mr Fujiama agreed, still shocked. "I would hurry to the buses if I were you."

He turned and left, probably to let the others know that the last few kids had been found and they would be ready to go momentarily. Jade turned to look at the others sadly, the smile sliding off her face.

"How are we going to get to Hikarigaoka?" Koromon asked once Mr Fujiama was gone.

"And how can we get Jade to come with us?" Sora added.

"I have a plan for the first thing," Tai admitted. "But no idea for the second."

"I don't like the sound of that," Joe admitted to Izzy who was standing next to him.

"I'm going to grab my bag from the cabin," Izzy said uneasily. "I'll meet you at the buses soon alright?"

"Sure, I'll come with you," Matt agreed. "Tai, TK, our belongings are in that cabin as well."

"We'll meet at the bus then," Sora agreed. "Our stuff is another cabin. Mimi, you need to get your stuff as well. Jade…"

"I'll see you at the bus," Jade promised. "Ms Rein will need to mark me off before we go anywhere, and it will be easier if I go alone."

"Take Gomamon with you," Joe told her. "He can be your back up if something goes wrong."

"As much as I would like to see it," Jade began. "Gomamon can't fight against the other kids. They don't know any better."

"They're bullies," Joe said sternly. "It won't do them any harm to realise that there are others out there who are stronger and smarter than they are."

Jade laughed, but nonetheless she agreed to take Gomamon with her as she hunted for her teacher. She instructed Gomamon to be completely silent and still, as she didn't want anyone to question her about him. Not that they would expect her to answer. Before she was pulled into the Digital World most recently, she was considered a functioning mute…or mentally challenged if you listened to some of her teachers.

"Jade!" a voice called in English. Jade turned slightly, recognising Ms Rein's voice, and walked over to where she was waving. She stopped slightly in front of her and tilted her head to the side curiously.

"For a moment I feared that you had gotten lost in the storm," Ms Rein told her once she was closer. "Are you alright?"

Jade nodded easily and allowed her eyes to dart around, looking for where her cousin was loitering.

"Thank goodness," Ms Rein breathed. "Now, we're going to be boarding this bus here, it will be a bit of a tight fit as all the Japanese children also need to go home as well. Thank goodness they have three buses otherwise it would take a really long time to get out of here."

Jade nodded her understanding, and noted that while there were English students lined up at the bus they were going on, the Japanese children looked like they were all trying to get onto the other two buses so that they wouldn't have to share with foreigners. Then she spotted Dudley at the end of the line and their eyes met. In that moment Jade knew that she was in trouble.

"Go and line up Jade," Ms Rein told her. "We'll start boarding in a minute."

Jade nodded slower this time. If she was to line up, it meant that she would have to hop into line with her cousin. Her grip on Gomamon tightened slightly. She knew that she was more than a match for Dudley if she used her abilities, but he was still just a child, a stupid child she allowed, but a child who didn't know any better. It wasn't her responsibility to make him a better person.

"What's wrong?" Gomamon whispered as she started to walk.

"You're about to meet my cousin," she muttered back, barely moving her lips. "Don't make a sound, or give any hint you're alive."

She stopped a few metres away from Dudley and stared at him impassively. He looked back with an evil grin, and Gomamon shivered in her arms. He strode towards her and Jade resisted the impulse to turn and run.

"Potty Potter," Dudley greeted with what he thought was great wit. "Did you get scared when the snow fell? Me and the guys were hoping that you were turned into an icicle, but oh well, I'm sure we can think of something else that should happen to you. Where'd you get that doll? Ugly looking thing."

Jade tightened her grip on Gomamon to let him know that she didn't believe he was ugly, and remind him that he was to stay still and silent. Dudley leaned in closer and Jade wrinkled her nose at his bad breath.

"When the teachers are gone, I'm going to rip the ears off your new toy and make you watch," he whispered cruelly. "You may have the pathetic teachers here wrapped around your finger, but where we're going…it's just going to be us. You won't be able to escape, Potter."

He laughed and turned away, and despite how much she tried to prevent it from happening, she went pale and thought about what he could do to her if she didn't fight back. The only teacher who was on her side was Ms Rein, but she couldn't protect her forever. Jade brushed back the fur on Gomamon's head calmingly. The next few days were going to be hard, but she wouldn't let Gomamon or one of the other digimon come with her. They needed to stay with their human partners, she would be fine on her own.

"That's your cousin?" Gomamon asked in disbelief. "Aren't cousins supposed to be family for you humans?"

"I don't have a good relationship with my family," Jade whispered sadly. "Though, he doesn't normally wait to do something to me. He must be afraid of the Japanese teachers."

"There she is!"

Jade tilted her head back as she heard TK yelling and smiled at him happily. She turned around so that her back was to the buses as the digidestined surrounded her. From the corner of her eye she noticed that Ms Rein had dropped the clipboard she was holding and her jaw had dropped, though Jade couldn't think what had caused her such a shock. She turned her head slightly and tilted it in concern at her, but Ms Rein just waved at her and picked up the clipboard before walking off.

"Do you have everything?" Sora asked curiously.

"Everything I brought is in this bag," Jade told her as she gestured to her bag. "Ms Rein has my passport."

"Do you have a plan to get to Hikarigaoka?" Gomamon asked. "One that allows Jade to come with us? We can't leave her with these kids."

"I'll be fine," Jade hissed at him.

"So, you met her cousin then," Tai stated in understanding.

"How can you be so calm about that human?!" Gomamon demanded, raising his voice. Jade shushed him by tapping his nose and rubbing behind his ears. Gomamon continued in a quieter voice. "He threatened to harm our Sovereign! He must not be allowed to!"

"I can look after myself," Jade scolded. "Besides, I have to stay with my classmates or there will probably be a huge political war started up, with Japan being responsible for my disappearance."

"That's if your school reported you missing," Matt muttered. Jade blinked at him, before she seriously considered what he was saying.

"Hey! That doesn't mean you can just disappear!" Joe protested, seeing the look.

"How are you getting to Hikarigaoka?" Jade asked, ignoring Joe. Tai nodded a few times as he looked around. He made a noise of success before running off to talk to his teacher and the bus driver. Jade looked around before following him and the others. They weren't going out of sight, and she knew that the digidestined would want to be on the same bus as her.

"Mr Fujiama!" Tai called out to get his attention. "Could you get the bus to drop us off somewhere along the way?"

"Drop you off?" Mr Fujiama repeated in disbelief. "Of course not! I have a responsibility to make sure all of you get back to your homes."

"Oh come on," Tai replied sadly. "Don't say that. You just have to take us to the housing complex in Hikarigaoka."

"Hikarigaoka? Why there?"

"…I used to live there," Tai told him. "I just suddenly felt like seeing it again. I've told Jade all about it, and I think it would be cool if I could show her everything I wrote about."

Jade blinked at Tai once before staring wide-eyed at Mr Fujiama. She stepped closer to Tai's side and was aware that the rest of the group, bar Mimi who had disappeared somewhere else, was standing behind them.

"Please?" they asked. Sora continued once their teacher's attention was on her. "See, today is Jade's birthday, and we had a party planned for her. But if we can't have the party then maybe we could take her around our old hunting grounds."

"Hikarigaoka is actually pretty close to the road we're taking," the bus driver spoke up from where he was being ignored. "We can go on the Kan-etsu Expressway and interchange to the Tokyo Gaikan, we'll be passing through Ooizumi. That place is within walking distance to Hikarigaoka."

"Great," Tai said. "Then could you drop us off there, mister?"

"Hey! I haven't given you my permission yet!" Mr Fujiama told him in anger. He looked at the bus driver to back him up, but the man just shrugged.

"I'm already taking a detour to Odaiba Elementary," the man said. "What's another stop on the way?"

"Please Mr Fujiama," Matt pleaded hopefully. "We really want to see the place our family lived happily together, before our parents got divorced."

"Brother!" TK whimpered as he buried his head against his brother's front. Matt hugged him tightly, and Jade looked around Tai's side to stare at them in confusion.

"Mr Fujiama, please let us off at Hikarigaoka," Joe added, staring sympathetically at the two brothers. "As an upper classman, I will take full responsibility in getting them home later, and getting Jade to Odaiba Elementary."

"Well, I guess if a reliable kid like you is going Joe, then I guess it's okay," Mr Fujiama agreed, before turning to Jade sadly. "However, I have no authority over the English students, you'll have to talk with their principal if you want to take Jade. And I want you to call your parents to let them know where you are."

"Thanks Mr Fujiama," Joe said with a bow. "I'll go talk to the Surrey Primary principal."

"You're the greatest teacher ever," Tai added with a bow of his own.

"Yeah, yeah," Mr Fujiama told him as he led the bus driver away. Tai grinned in delight, before looking down at Jade and frowning.

"Don't worry about me," she told him. "I'll head to Odaiba, meet you there as it were, and tomorrow you can tell me what plan of action you've come up with."

"I don't like leaving you behind," Tai told her.

"I won't be alone for long," Jade promised. "You'll see me tomorrow."

"How long are you going to keep that act up for?" Tai asked the two brothers, pulling his attention from Jade. TK, who had looked to be in tears turned around with a broad grin across his face laughing at the others.

"What's going on?" Joe asked in confusion.

"It didn't seem like he'd let us go unless we pulled out some waterworks," Matt explained with a smile. He rested his hand on TK's head in a congratulatory pat for good acting.

"So it was all an act?!" Joe demanded. "I was desperate to get Mr Fujiama's approval because I thought it was true!"

"Calm down Joe," Tai said with slight alarm. "It all worked out, except for not getting permission to take Jade with us."

"Right, I'm going to talk to your principal," Joe told Jade as he walked off. "Maybe you'll be able to come with us."

The children watched him go and Jade sighed. Tai threw his arm around her shoulders and led her back over to the buses. The English students were already boarding, and Mimi and her group of friends were slightly ahead of them so at least they were all on the same bus. Joe came up to them before they boarded and shook his head sadly. He hadn't gotten permission. They boarded the bus and headed towards the empty seats in the middle, though there was an uncomfortable moment when only six seats were available. Tai solved that by sitting down and pulling Jade onto his lap so that there was room for everyone.

Matt and TK sat together, but as soon as he was sitting Matt closed his eyes and relaxed. TK scored the window seat, and he and Patamon spent the trip staring at the scenery. Mimi was with her friends at the back, but Palmon and Biyomon were above her in the luggage rack so that they were nearby and could keep an eye on her. Sora and Joe were sitting together, with Gomamon sitting in the luggage rack above his partner, and Izzy was across the aisle with Tai next to him. Motimon and Koromon were squashed between the two boys, but once the bus was moving Tai went to stand in the aisle so that he could keep an eye on everyone.

"Everything seems to be in perfect working order back in this world," Izzy said as he typed away on his computer. Jade looked over his shoulder at the screen but the only think that made sense to her was that he was on the internet.

"The digivice is working as well," Sora told him.

"Cool," Tai told them both. Jade clutched at her tag and crest and leant back against her chair, she wondered how she was going to get in contact with Akili or Michael. Michael was the logical choice to call, as he was in America and spoke English fluently, but Akili was the Protector of Wisdom and probably had more of a hand in choosing the digidestined.

"What's that? Is that the latest toy all you kids have?" Mr Fujiama asked as he walked towards the back of the bus to see what had Tai out of his seat.

"No, just one of the old ones we all hate," Joe reassured him.

"Let me take a look at it."

"You can't," Tai said without thinking.

"Don't be stingy," Mr Fujiama told him as he pushed him out of the way. "After all, I'm letting you guys off at Hikarigaoka."

"Here," Sora said with a smile, handing over her digivice.

"Thank-you Sora, you're an obedient girl, unlike some other kid I know."

Jade giggled at the slight against Tai, though Izzy just reassured him that there was no harm in someone else looking at the digivice.

"For a second there I thought Mr Fujiama was an evil digimon," Tai muttered.

"You've spent way too much time in the Digital World, Tai," Izzy told him. Jade thought that was even funnier, because Tai had spent the shortest time in there out of everyone.

"Think about it," Tai continued, really getting into his idea. "When you forget your homework at home and he catches you he snares you with his attack _Tickle Blaster!_"

"I heard that last one," Mr Fujiama said softly behind him. Jade burst out into hysterical giggles as Tai's teacher tickled him mercilessly. The bus joined in her laughter, and as soon as he could Tai slid back into his seat and pulled Jade onto his lap. He grumbled about insane teachers, but no one really listened to him. Jade leant back against him and played with his fingers with growing nervousness. No matter what she said, she didn't actually want them to leave without her.

_I have a bad feeling about leaving you with your cousin,_ Tai thought into her mind.

_Me too,_ Jade admitted. _But I can't legally go with you now. I don't even know if you'll be able to get me tomorrow. My school principal doesn't exactly like me, and Mr Sanders hates me. He won't let me do anything that constitutes as fun._

_We're going to need you._

_I know, but you'll always be able to contact me. _

It didn't take too long until the bus reached its first destination, Hikarigaoka. Tai wasn't the only one reluctant to get off the bus, each child was sad to be leaving Jade behind, but Jade just pressed her hand against the bus window in a longing farewell, and stared after the digidestined for as long as possible. She wished them luck, before turning in her seat so that she was facing straight ahead. She needed to be strong, and she needed to find a way to get away from her classmates and cousin…without attracting attention.

Her previous good mood disappeared entirely when Dudley sat down next to her with a smirk. He said nothing, as there were still some teachers who didn't like him around, but his smirk at her let her know that she was in for it once they were alone. Mr Fujiama had noticed her change in attitude and was watching her in concern. He was sitting next to Ms Rein, and the two began a hushed conversation about her that no one else could make out.

"She seems different," Mr Fujiama muttered.

"Sakurai," Ms Rein began hesitantly. "She is special. I don't know how much you know about the political situation in England, but Jade is pretty well known for surviving when her parents didn't."

"So she is the same Jade Potter that was in all those newspaper articles eight years ago," Sakurai Fujiama said with a sound of understanding. "It was so ridiculous the way they spoke about her, especially seeing as her parents had only just been murdered in front of her."

"You are aware of the situation," Elizabeth said in relief. "The way you looked at her, I thought you recognised her name, but I wasn't sure. Can you-?"

"Mundane-born," Sakurai stated proudly. "First in the family to be given an invite to Mahoutokoro. It's well known in Japan as an elite private school, invite only as they don't accept applications, but that's because as well as general classes they also teach magical classes. Yourself?"

"My cousin was a muggle-born, which is probably your version of mundane-born, but I never got an invite."

"Muggle just seems so insulting," Sakurai explained. "In Japan, and most eastern countries, the term is not used. 'Mundane' was suggested back in the late 1800s, but it wasn't accepted worldwide."

"That's a shame," Elizabeth muttered.

"So, your Jade Potter is in actual fact the Girl-Who-Lived?"

"It's a horrid title for her to have," Elizabeth revealed sadly. "Imagine being constantly referred to as a survivor when the same thing you're known for is what killed your parents. I would go mad."

"Her name's probably down at Hogwarts, isn't it?"

"More than likely, it is where her parents went. Why?"

"Well, I start teaching at Mahoutokoro in September," Sakurai admitted. "If she didn't want to go to Hogwarts, I could arrange for an invite to be sent to her for Mahoutokoro. She wouldn't be hounded as bad as she would in England."

"I don't think she knows about her parents," Elizabeth admitted. "Her aunt and uncle have been telling her that her parents were killed in a car accident of all things. She probably won't know about anything until her invite arrives, and that's if her aunt and uncle let her go at all."

"She was laughing earlier, I haven't seen her laugh at all since she arrived."

"I haven't seen her smile in the year that I've been watching her. This Pen Pal Program is probably the best thing that's ever happened to her. She's finally happy, and I would love to see her remain so. But going back to England, I think, will probably send her back into her shell."

"We'll think of something," Sakurai promised. "But I hope that nothing happens to those kids we left in Hikarigaoka."

"Why did you leave them there?"

"They asked, they're with someone responsible, and they're good kids. Most of them I'll probably be teaching next year, and…well…I just felt that I had to."

"They'll be fine then," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Now, tell me about the layout of Odaiba Elementary."

Sakurai Fujiama smiled and began to tell her how the school was arranged, and the best way to keep the students separated.

* * *

As the bus pulled up alongside Odaiba Elementary School, Jade stepped off the bus like a prisoner heading towards their execution. Several Japanese children got off as well as they lived within walking distance of the school, but otherwise the buses would be taking the children directly to their homes. Jade watched the bus go sadly before turning back to the school curiously. This was where Tai and the others studied, except for Joe who was studying at another school.

"Where's your doll Potter?" Dennis called to her cruelly. "Did someone else already take it off you?"

"Does the little baby need something to hold onto?" Malcolm jeered.

"How quickly do you reckon you can run Potter?" Dudley asked her with a smirk. "We have a lot of lost time to make up for."

Jade took one look at their faces and their 'I'm ready to run' positions before turning and darting into the school. They were ready for her and started to chase her. They ran right passed the teachers, though Ms Trish, the principal, only remarked that it was nice to see the two cousins playing nicely together. Ms Rein was conflicted, but she couldn't do anything without losing her job. She wondered if Japan was hiring?

As she was in an unfamiliar place, it didn't take Jade long before she was trapped and cornered. All she could do was brace herself as the punches rained down on her. The four boys, Malcolm, Piers, Dennis and Dudley, had been waiting for her to be alone for ages. It seemed like whenever they wanted to 'play' with her, either a teacher or one of the Japanese kids she had taken to hanging around would show up and prevent them from attacking. It wasn't fair, but now there was no one to stop them.

Jade knew that she should just let the boys do what they normally did, as she had allowed them to do for a long time, but she had just spent months in the Digital World battling against evil, evil that she had come back to fight. Just letting herself get beaten up, even if she knew it would benefit her in the long run because there would be no consequences from her uncle if she didn't hurt Dudley, she just couldn't rationalise away the pain. So she set part of her body on fire just as Dennis punched her, burning his hand. She rolled away from them as they recoiled and put the fire out.

"You freak," Dudley accused. "I'm telling dad when we get home!"

"Weirdo," Malcolm agreed.

"Monster," Piers stated.

"You burnt my hand!" Dennis cried. "Why would you do that?!"

Jade raised her eyebrow at him in disbelief. Really? Why hadn't she done it sooner is the question that she should be asking herself. The four boys turned and ran, and Jade slowly made her way after them so that she could figure out where she would be sleeping. Fortunately, she hadn't really been hit on her face, though she was positive that one of the boys had kicked her forehead, it could be hidden behind her fringe.

When she got back to the group she walked passed a radio that was reporting the news. First there was a segment on a terrorist attack in Hikarigaoka, though no one had taken responsibility for it, and then there was the incident of the 'not a whale' in the harbour. Jade shook her head in disbelief. Leave the digidestined alone for a few hours and they get into trouble with two digimon. She hoped they were all alright.

Dinner was served a short time later, though because Jade 'had started a fight' she was deprived a meal and told to go to bed early. Jade sighed, she was hungry but she had gone for longer without food before. She slipped into her sleeping bag, hoping that she would be able to get a good night's sleep, but not really believing that it would happen. Her bag and shoes that Tai had given her were put into the sleeping bag with her for protection, and she lay still as she watched the other children slowly make their way into the gym so that they could go to sleep as well. She wanted to stay awake, but she was tired and fell asleep almost immediately.

The first inkling that she had that something was wrong was the fact that the sleeping bag was moving with her still inside it. The malicious giggling of her cousin and his friends invaded her mind, and when she opened her eyes with a start it was to see them disappearing with a laugh. She sat up and looked around in alarm, especially in seeing how they had moved her not only from the gym, but onto the road without her awakening. Lights blinded her and she had enough awareness to throw herself back to the ground before the truck hit her.

So, her cousin didn't want her in the gym? That suited her fine. She crawled out of her sleeping bag, pulled out her bag and shoes, put her shoes on and forced the sleeping bag into her backpack. She would go looking for Myotismon while it was dark.

Creeping silently through the town, Jade wondered if anyone would notice that she was missing. She hoped not, she had too much to do without also hiding from the police.

* * *

Matt watched as Tai and the others continued on to their homes, leaving him and TK at his apartment. After Ikkakumon had brought them as close to Odaiba as possible they had walked the rest of the way, with Tai determined to see everyone home before going home himself. If TK hadn't lived so far away, Matt was sure that Tai would insist on walking there and back to get him there. Fortunately, they were all tired and Matt told him that he would keep TK home with him for the night.

"I don't mind," Tai told him easily. "It's been a while since we all saw our parents."

"I'll call my mum," Matt told him as he pushed TK inside. "Relax, I'll take him home tomorrow when we've all slept in a real bed and eaten some real food."

"Alright," Tai agreed. "We'll see you tomorrow at the park."

Matt waved, shaking his head with a laugh. Tai was going to get himself killed if he didn't start thinking about himself a little bit more. TK called out to them with Patamon on his head, waving both his arms and laughing. Matt pushed him again and they entered the apartment complex. Already Matt was thinking about what he needed to do before going to sleep. He supposed the most important thing would be to call their mother, let her know that TK was safe and that he would bring him home tomorrow. Then he needed to feed TK and the digimon, and call his dad.

"I'm hungry," TK told him as they entered the apartment. "Do you think there's food in your apartment?"

"That depends on whether or not dad went shopping recently," Matt told him. He walked over to the fridge. "Looks like…the eggs are still good, and potatoes, and – ew! – that's passed its used-by date!"

TK giggled from where he was sitting at the table, and Patamon and Tsunomon joined him. Both digimon were looking around the somewhat messy apartment. It looked like the apartment hadn't been cleaned since the last time Matt was home, which meant that their dad probably hadn't been home much.

"Where's dad?" TK asked as Matt started to pull out food that could be cooked.

"Probably at work still," Matt told him. "I'll call him after I call mum to let him know that we're back from camp and that you're here with me."

"Can I talk to her too?"

"Sure, now where's that phone?"

Matt found the phone buried under a pile of dirty clothes and dialled his mum's phone number after checking with TK as to what the number was. As he listened to the dial tone he thought back to when they were younger and still lived together. His mother, Natsuko Takaishi was a dedicated journalist who had chosen her career over staying as a family. There could have been more to it, because Matt remembered his parents fighting a lot, especially after moving from Hikarigaoka four years previously. He thought it had been because of the terrorist attack, but that couldn't have been it.

"_This is Natsuko, how can I help you?_"

Matt blinked as the phone connected and he rested it between his shoulder and ear so that he could prepare something to eat at the same time as talk to her.

"Hi mum," he greeted. "It's Yamato."

"_Yamato! Aren't you supposed to be at camp?_"

"It snowed," Matt explained. "So they sent us home early. TK's with me, and I wanted to call to let you know that. I'll bring him home to you tomorrow."

"_Takeru is with you? Why wasn't I called earlier? I would have come to get him._"

"It was just easier to bring him back with me," Matt told her with a frown. "He's fine."

"Can I talk to her Matt?" TK asked, seeing the frown. "She'll listen to me."

Matt handed over the phone as he focused on making dinner. It knew that his mother was just worried, but surely she knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to TK? TK started to chat happily away with their mum, talking about the kids that they had met at camp, some of the things they had done before getting sucked into the Digital World, and about Matt's Pen Pal who hadn't wanted to hang around with him. Once dinner was ready he hung up and explained that she would expect him tomorrow, and that she was glad the two of them were having fun together.

As TK started to eat the food Matt had prepared, Matt took the phone back to call their dad. Hiroaki Ishida was a reporter, and that was how he had met his wife. They had worked together on the same story and gotten married not long afterwards. After the divorce, and Hiroaki had gotten custody of their eldest son, and it was like the whole world had changed overnight. Everything changed. Matt learnt how to cook, because Hiroaki was terrible in the kitchen, and he learnt how to do his own laundry. He learnt how to become independent, but that didn't mean that his dad wasn't there for him. In Matt's opinion, his dad was the coolest dad in the world.

"_Ishida, what do you want?_"

"Hey dad!" Matt greeted with a laugh. Trust his dad to answer the phone like that. "I'm home!"

"_Yamato? How'd you get in?_"

"You left the door unlocked again dad," Matt told him. "Anyway, I'm here with TK, and I'll save you some leftovers if you get home tonight."

"_Was there something wrong with camp?_"

"Just that it snowed. All of us are home, but I figured that you'd working so this call is so that you don't panic when you get home and see that someone besides yourself has been here."

"_Great, thanks for the call. I'll probably be back late, everyone is working around the clock to get to the bottom of this weather phenomenon._"

"I'll leave the door unlocked," Matt promised.

"_Thanks Yamato, tell your brother goodnight for me. I'll see you tomorrow if you're up before I go to work._"

"I wouldn't count on it. I'm so tired that I could sleep for the next week if I could."

"_Goodnight, son._"

"Night dad!"

Matt laughed as he hung up the phone and settled down to eat. His plan for the rest of the night was to eat, shower and then sleep. TK had the same idea, but he wanted a bath and the two digimon joined him happily. The bath didn't last long because they were all tired, and Matt put TK in his bed with Patamon while he set up the couch and collapsed onto it with Tsunomon. He was unconscious moments later.

A few hours later Hiroaki walked through the front door and dropped his jacket onto the back of the kitchen chair. He quietly walked around the apartment, looking in on TK with a smile and chuckling to himself when he saw Matt on the couch. It had been a long time since both boys had slept in the same house.

He had always regretted agreeing to a divorce with the woman he loved more than anything. But he had kept his past a secret from her, and once she found out about it she just didn't trust him anymore. In certain circles, Hiroaki was considered a half-blood, the son of a mundane-born witch and a pureblood wizard. He had grown up around magic, but he hadn't liked how segregated it was from the mundane world. He had become a reporter in order to spread knowledge to people, no matter if they liked what he was saying or not. His dedication to his job was what had attracted Natsuko to him in the first place. She was a mundane, but her lack of magic had only attracted him to her that little bit more. His family had supported his decision, though they weren't sure hiding the magic from her was a good idea. They were right.

When she had caught Yamato entertaining Takeru with magical lights, he had come clean and told her everything. Then the terrorist attack had occurred, though Hiroaki didn't believe that it was terrorists who had caused the devastation, and they had moved away. They had tried to make it work, but there was no trust anymore, so they had gotten a divorce and Natsuko took Takeru further away, leaving him with Yamato.

But he loved his son more than anything, and there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep him safe.

* * *

Mimi didn't wait for the group to catch up as she came within sight of her apartment complex. She just darted ahead with Palmon, calling back behind her that she would see them the following day, before charging inside to greet her parents. They were so surprised to see her that it took several moments before the screaming started, and then the tears, while through it all there were hugs all round. Palmon was able to sneak into Mimi's room without being spotted, and curled up on Mimi's bed so that she could rest. She knew that Mimi would bring her something to eat later.

To celebrate her early return from camp, Keisuke Tachikawa decided that he would take the family out to dinner, to the best restaurant in town. Her mother, Satoe Tachikawa, knew the best restaurants better than the back of her hand, and agreed instantly before rushing off to get changed. Makoto, her baby brother, was just learning to crawl, but despite how needy he was at the moment, there was no denying that Mimi's parents had more than enough love to spoil them both at the same time.

Mimi had the time of her life just simply enjoying the time she spent with her family. She hadn't realised just how much she had missed them until they were so far away that she couldn't contact them just to hear their voices. She had even missed her brother, of who she had resented when he was born, but he had grown on her and she just loved to dress him up. She had deliberately ordered more than she could eat with the intention of bringing home her leftovers for Palmon.

Of course, once she was home she was tired enough that she only had the energy to go to her room with her food under her arm and collapse onto the bed. Palmon woke at her arrival, and while the plant digimon was eating she gathered the energy to have a shower and wash off the dirt of the day. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten the battle four years previously, even though she had been right there. Now that she was thinking about it, she remembered how scared she had been for weeks afterwards. Her parents had moved to Odaiba, and in time the nightmares stopped and she felt safe playing outside again.

Who could the eighth digidestined be? And why couldn't Gennai remember? Surely, as the person who had chosen them, or said that he had chosen them, he would remember such an important fact. Even Jade seemed to remember more than Gennai, but she hadn't been in the Digital World at the time of the selection. It didn't make any sense.

As Mimi got out of the shower and crawled into bed under her covers, with Palmon snuggled up next to her, she wondered about the others and if they had gotten home alright. And she worried about Jade. That fat pig of a cousin had it in for her, and Mimi was worried that Jade would be hurt without them around. It was one thing to fight against digimon, but fighting against children? That didn't sound like something Jade would do.

"Sleep Mimi," Palmon ordered. "You're tired, I'm tired, and we'll see everyone tomorrow."

"You're right," Mimi agreed. "But, I just have this really bad feeling that something bad is going to happen to one of us, and I'm lying around surrounded by comfort."

"Jade will be fine," Palmon reassured her, knowing exactly what was bothering her. "If she was in any danger she would call us, you know that."

Mimi admitted that that was true. Jade had proven capable of looking after herself, but she was only young. She decided that it would be better if she went to sleep and worried about it in the morning. She wouldn't be doing her friends any favours by falling asleep when they needed her the most.

Out in the living room, Keisuke and Satoe cuddled together on the couch talking about the changes that they had seen in their daughter. Mimi may have been trying to hide it from them, but they could see that she had grown up a lot since they had seen her two weeks previously. They weren't strangers to weirdness, after all, they both came from what others would consider and unusual background.

Graduates of Mahoutokoro, Keisuke and Satoe could both use magic, and did so often to make their life easier. Several appliances in their home used magic to function, but they still did everything by hand so that they wouldn't become lazy. They had heard of the war in England, and how no one had been able to fight against the terrorist killing everyone, and both were glad they lived in Japan where everything was much more open and blood status didn't mean the same as it did in England. The Japanese purebloods, those of noble decent, only cared about their family's prestige. The only ones they were prejudice about were those of burakumin decent, the impure outcastes from the Japanese feudal era.

Blood only mattered in how much prestige new blood could bring to the family, whether they were magical or mundane. Keisuke's father was considered a half-blood with a noble father and a mundane-born mother, whereas Satoe was the daughter of a pureblood witch and a mundane-born wizard. They weren't discriminated against, and their families supported the unions.

They weren't hiding their abilities from Mimi, but they believed that she needed to find her own place and recognise it for what it was on her own. She was spoilt, but she was also honest to a fault, but now that she was home it was like she had fought in a war of her own. Satoe had seen it once before, in one of her friends from Mahoutokoro, but she had never discovered what she had seen. Yuuko had turned her back on magic after the war in England ended, but Satoe had never discovered why.

"Do you think she's alright?" Satoe asked her husband.

"Yes," Keisuke said instantly. "We've raised her well, and I know she'll be ready for Mahoutokoro next year. I don't know if she'll be able to handle the green uniform, but the way she's acting, I know she'll make us proud."

"She's hiding something from us."

"And we're hiding something from her. She's allowed to have secrets, and as long as those secrets don't hurt her, I say let her keep them."

"I love you honey bunch."

"And I love you," Keisuke told her.

* * *

Joe and Izzy waved off Tai and Sora together as they lived in the same complex. They separated at the first floor, with Gomamon disappearing into Joe's bag and Tentomon going around the back so that neither digimon would be seen by their partners' families. Joe went further up, agreeing to meet the following day, and eagerly walked into his apartment. He had never been so happy to see his family.

His mum, Misaki Kido, was a paediatrician and worked at the local children's hospital every day, but still made it home in time to cook dinner and listen to the family talk about their day. His father, Manabu Kido was a well-respected doctor and didn't always make it home in time for dinner because he was in such high demand. Shin, his older brother, understood more of the terminology that their dad used when discussing his day than Joe did, because he was part way though his doctorate. It was like everyone in the family wanted to do something with medicine…except Joe.

Joe found it easy, throughout dinner, to slip food to Gomamon beneath him. After all, the little digimon had saved all their lives when he digivolved into Ikkakumon to carry them home. Joe still couldn't believe that Sora's cousin was such a jerk. If Tentomon hadn't digivolved to catch him, Izzy might have ended up at the bottom of the river after Duane pushed him. Going home by water though, that was great. He had never seen Odaiba from the water before, as he got seasick easily, but it was a great view.

"So, Joe, how was camp?" Shin asked curiously. "Was it as much of a drag that you thought it would be?"

"Hmm? Oh, camp was interesting, that's for sure," Joe told him. "Once the English students arrived I was able to see exactly how different our cultures are."

"Did you make friends with any of them?" Misaki asked. "I'm sure they were all scared being in a different country."

"I met one girl, her name is Jade, and she was the Pen Pal of Taichi. I think she was the only one who could understand Japanese, and I'm pretty sure that no one in her class liked her."

"What makes you say that son?" Manabu asked him around a mouthful of rice.

"They would bully her a lot," Joe admitted. "In the end we got together and had her moved into Sora Takenouchi's cabin just to protect her. I have a suspicion that she isn't treated very well at home."

"Define 'not well'," Misaki requested.

"Well, she turned nine today but she could pass for a six year old easily," Joe started. "She's really light, like she doesn't eat, and she doesn't like people touching her. Her body goes really tense and she closes her eyes like she's afraid that someone would hit her. And then there's the fact that her cousin took great joy in hurting her, or getting her into trouble, like he had been doing it for years."

"Did you see any bruises?" Shin asked.

"No, and she didn't talk much until we got to know her. She hasn't said anything about her home, except that one time where she said that she cooked for her aunt and uncle."

"I can make some calls," Manabu mused as he put his bowl down. "I know some people in England. They could look into the situation for me, but there's not much else I can do. She is an English citizen, not Japanese."

"That's better than nothing though," Joe said happily. "You're the best dad!"

Manabu waved off his gratitude and changed the topic to something less depressing. Joe excused himself and retreated to his bedroom for some well-deserved sleep. Gomamon disappeared under his bedcovers the moment they were pulled back, and once Joe had a quick shower he was buried with his friend. They were asleep seconds later.

* * *

Izzy walked into his apartment building with a smile on his face after waving his goodbyes to Joe. Tentomon, who had digivolved to save him from Gesomon, would be coming in through his bedroom window when he got there so that he wouldn't be spotted by his parents. Falling off that bridge, that had been the most terrifying moment he could recall in the Human World. Seeing everyone's alarmed faces staring back at him as he dropped over the ledge…well, he was more than ready to give Tentomon whatever he wanted in gratitude. He had never really had a friend before.

In his ten years of existence, it seemed that aside from his parents, everyone was daunted by his intelligence and didn't know how to treat him. The kids at school thought he was weird, and 'nerd' was probably the nicest thing he had been called. There had been a stage where he had tried to be accepted and joined the soccer team, but even there the other players had treated him like dirt.

Except for Tai.

For some reason, Tai was the only one who had treated him like a person. He had also given him his first friendly nickname 'Izzy'. It had felt good, to be treated like he mattered for just a short time. He had tried to make Tai happy to have him on the team, but he just wasn't any good at sports and gave it up as a bad job. He still saw Tai often, and had even been invited over to his house a few times. He had gone, and it had been fun. Tai's mum loved to experiment in the kitchen, but her food turned out good most of the time. Hikari was just like her brother, just a little less extroverted, and she seemed to idolise the ground he walked on. It had made Izzy long for a younger sibling of his own.

"I'm home!" Izzy announced as he opened the door. He smiled as he saw his mother standing in the hallway talking on the phone.

"Koushiro? Is everything alright, sweetheart?"

"Yes mum," Izzy said grinning. "Camp was cancelled due to abnormal weather phenomena."

"Is that so?" Yoshie Izumi wondered. Izzy grinned at her sheepishly as he brushed off his pants. He knew that he was dirty, and hoped that he would have time for a shower before dinner.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," he said with a bow. His mother smiled at him and he retreated to his bedroom. After he shut the door and opened his window to let Tentomon in he thought about whether he should tell his parents about the digimon and the Digital World. It would ensure that he didn't have to hide what he was doing. He didn't like keeping secrets from his parents…even if they were keeping something big from him.

Tentomon flew through the window silently, and Izzy quickly shut the window behind him. The hard part now over, Izzy now needed to figure out how to keep Tentomon hidden from his parents, and how to get him something to eat. First, he needed to find a way to keep his door locked, and to do that he would need to take a trip to the local hardware store.

"I need to go out for a bit," he said quietly.

"For what?" Tentomon asked.

"A lock for the door," Izzy started to explain.

"Koushiro? Is something the matter?" Yoshie asked through the door. Izzy froze for a minute before forcing Tentomon to hide in his cupboard in case his mother decided to enter the bedroom. He might not agree with keeping her and his father, Masami, in the dark about his adventures in the Digital World, but he also wasn't ready to tell them everything just yet.

"Nothing at all!" he called back, mentally crossing his fingers in hope she wouldn't come in. When she didn't, and instead walked away, he sighed in relief and walked over to his monkey box to hunt for some coins. With one last word of warning to Tentomon, he left his room and under the pretence of going over to visit Tai for a reference book he disappeared to the local hardware store and back again with a new lock for the inside of his door.

"My parents won't appreciate this," he told his partner. "But I think it's imperative."

"Why?" Tentomon asked curiously. "What's the big deal Izzy?"

"We'd be in big trouble if my mum and dad came in here and discovered you," Izzy explained. "I'm positive that they'd never comprehend our situation. The others also agreed that we'd keep the digimon a secret from our parents unless there was no other choice."

"I guess you have a point there. Oh, by the way…"

"What?"

"I don't know too much about humans, me being a digimon and all, but I can tell you one thing for sure: your mum is a really kind lady, and judging by the smells that have been coming from outside ever since we got here…a really good cook as well. Your mother must be making something delicious for you."

"She's the greatest," Izzy agreed happily. His smile then faded as he thought about a conversation he had overheard when he was younger. He had been sneaking around, and hadn't been caught, but he had overheard a conversation about how he wasn't biologically an Izumi. He was adopted. Granted, he wasn't supposed to know, and he had been devastated when he found out, and that was probably why he had turned to computers. They weren't as complicated as humans.

"Izzy? Earth to Izzy?" Tentomon called, breaking into his thoughts. Izzy mentally snapped himself out of his memories.

"Sorry, I guess I was just thinking."

"But you're always thinking."

"Koushiro? Are you in there?"

Izzy visibly jumped as his mother's voice came through the door. It sounded like she was just outside. He called back an affirmative to her, and asked her what she needed.

"Dinner's ready," Yoshie told him.

"I'll be just a minute!"

"If you have a friend over, he can join us too," Yoshie continued, scaring Izzy a little. "I thought I heard someone speaking in a funny sounding voice. Is that what I heard? Koushiro?"

Izzy panicked just a little, and as he and Tentomon stared at each other Izzy thought rapidly about what he could do to defuse the situation. In the end, he panicked and just said the first thing that came to his mind.

"No mum, that was me! I'm practicing my new comedy act! They're having a talent contest at school this year and the winner can win a new computer!"

"You tell jokes?!"

* * *

Sora lived a few levels down from Tai, but she still watched as he travelled the rest of the way to his apartment until he was out of sight. Then she went home herself. Biyomon was just about asleep in her arms, but she had been through a lot that one day so Sora allowed her to sleep while she entered her apartment. Her mother, Toshiko Takenouchi, was in her study, working on the inventory lists for her flower shop down the street, but she stopped when Sora returned in order to ask what was wrong.

"It snowed, so everyone was sent home."

"You came alone?" Toshiko asked in alarm.

"No, Tai came with me as he lives a few levels above us."

"Oh," Toshiko uttered. "Well, it's good to have you home. Dinner will be ready at the usual time."

Sora nodded and watched as her mother walked back into the study. She quickly had a shower before dinner, wanting to get rid of the dirt that had accumulated throughout their adventure. But still, once dinner came around she watched her mother carefully, and was able to sneak food down to Biyomon who was pretending to be a stuffed toy at her side. Ever since her crest glowed, and she realised that her mother loved her, she had started to think about everything her mother had done for her. She decided that her mother wanted her to work in a flower shop because it wasn't dangerous, and that she was always encouraging her to wear girly clothes so that she wouldn't scare away boys. She figured that she owed her mother an apology for the way that she had treated her. But still, she wasn't sure how to.

Conversation was awkward between them, and in the end she gave up and ate in silence. Once she was done she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before retreating to her room where she could change for bed. The day had been hectic, and the worry was in all of them for Jade. They hoped that Myotismon hadn't attacked her while they weren't there, or that her cousin hadn't harmed her while there were no adults around who cared about her.

"Jade will be fine Sora," Biyomon muttered as she curled up under the thick bedcovers. "She's probably already asleep and dreaming about our adventures. We'll see her tomorrow."

"You're right," Sora agreed with a smile. "Good night Biyomon."

Once Sora was in her room asleep, Toshiko carefully opened her door to check on her. She loved her daughter, she really did, but she was so much like her father that it was difficult sometimes to understand her. Toshiko had never really gotten into sports, and the only sport she would even consider plating when she was younger was tennis. She loved flowers much more than sport, and when Sora was born she had hoped to be able to share her love of flowers with her. That had backfired, and the relationship between the two of them was strained. Sometimes Toshiko wished that her husband wouldn't spend so much time away, he would be able to talk so sense into their daughter.

But still, was it wrong that she only wanted her daughter to be safe and happy? With a sigh Toshiko closed the door and walked back to the study. Maybe it was time to write that letter to Haruhiko, and encourage him to call their daughter soon. He had mentioned that there was something he needed to talk to them both about once Sora was eleven, and she had been eleven for almost five months. It was starting to worry her a little bit.

She considered calling Yuuko, to make sure that Taichi had gotten home alright. She worried about that boy, for much the same reason that her daughter did. That boy was like a trouble magnet, it always seemed to find him. She had eavesdropped on a few conversations the two had had over the phone, it always seemed like Taichi was hiding something from his parents and Sora was trying to talk him into talking to his mother. They had such a strange family dynamic.

Yes, she would call Yuuko just to make sure that everything was alright.

* * *

**A lot of guesses that were correct that time round, and some that weren't so correct. Still, you're ideas were creative and made sense. Tai will go home in the next chapter, this one was just getting a little bit too long. Thank-you for your support! Answers to some questions:**

**Liedral: Tom and Gatomon will meet eventually, but there is much he must do before that happens. And Jade has never needed a digivice to enter the Digital World. It is a part of her data that allows her to travel between the worlds, though I'm going to create something to help her later, like a phone or something. She also won't be able to access the Digital World within certain wards (like Hogwarts and the Ministry). As for the time difference...you're right that it is a long time to be gone, but with the difference in timelines it cannot be helped until it is fixed. But th point is it will be fixed.**

**sujulove: In a way, Wizardmon could be an older brother, but at the same time he could be an Uncle to her. Remember, Lily was first in the Digital World when she was six, the same age as Jade was, and Wizardmon would have been overly protective of her. So, Lily and Wizardmon would have been like siblings, which would make Jade his niece. XD**

**ReadAlert: There will be some of that much later, as I do like the idea. He just seems way to manipulative to me, though circumstances may prompt him to become less so, and more supportive. That is debatable though.**

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 22: The Eighth Digidestined_**


	22. The Eighth Digidestined

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Gennai has given the digidestined bad news: there is an eighth digidestined in Japan, and Myotismon, their new enemy, is on his way to get her. It is now a race against time to get home. If they lose this race, it will be more than the Human World that is in danger...every world will be facing its destruction. The children and digimon have opened the Gateway to the Human World and are now home. All they have to do now is figure out who the eighth child is, and protect the child from Myotismon. Simple right?_

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 22: The Eighth Digidestined

* * *

Tai stepped out of the elevator onto his floor of his apartment building. He was beyond exhausted, what with battling against Mammothmon, figuring out they had all seen two digimon fighting in Hikarigaoka four years previously, navigating through the subway, spending all their money, fighting against Gesomon and then finally arriving home and making sure the others got home too…it was too much. He was also worried about Jade, she didn't really have any allies amongst her classmates. Koromon looked up at him in concern, but Tai just smiled at him and continued on. He didn't bother knocking on the door, he just opened it and walked in.

"I'm back!" he called out, hoping that his parents were home. His mother, Yuuko Kamiya, was the first person to see him, and her eyes had widened at the sight of Koromon in his arms.

"Taichi?" she asked. "Why are you here? What happened at camp? Are you alright?"

"Camp was cancelled because it snowed," he told her as he slipped his shoes off and put Koromon down.

"Snow? The weather is getting so unpredictable these days," his mother determined. Her eyes narrowed in on Koromon, and the little digimon squirmed slightly under her gaze. "What is that?"

"I brought Hikari home a present," Tai said with a nervous smile. "I didn't want her to miss out because of her cold."

"Great," Yuuko answered suspiciously. "Well, give me your dirty clothes and I'll wash them for you."

It was such a 'mum answer' that Tai felt relieved. Sure, his mum was hard on him at times, and she loved Kari just that little bit more than him, but she was still his mum. His eyes filled with tears and he couldn't help himself but throw his arms around her. She hugged him back in concern, her arms tight around his shoulders.

"Taichi?! What happened? Is something wrong?"

"I missed you mum," he muttered. "I'm glad you're here."

"Of course I am," his mother soothed. "What's this all about son?"

"Is something wrong?" Susumu, his father asked as he walked to the front door with Kari by his side. Kari was looking at Tai in worry, but when her eyes found Koromon she smiled in delight at seeing him returned.

"Dad," Tai muttered before giving him a hug as well. His parents looked at each other in concern over his head, and Kari lifted Koromon from the ground so that he was out of the way. She decided that it would be best if her parents and her brother had some alone time, so she took Koromon to her room so that he could tell her about what had happened since she last saw him a few hours previously.

"Taichi, this isn't like you," Susumu muttered as he steered Tai into the living room, forcing him to sit on the couch next to him. He kept his arm around Tai and Yuuko sat on his other side, her hands resting on his left forearm.

"What happened son?" she asked in concern. "Did something happen at camp? Did one of those older kids bully you? I'll call up their parents and have words with them."

"Nothing like that," Tai said with a shake of his head. "Can't I have just missed you?"

"You've been to camp every year since you were eight," his father reminded him. "You've never acted like this before, and I haven't seen you cry since you were eight either."

It was true, Tai had stopped confiding every detail of his life to his parents after his mother blamed him for Kari getting sick. He didn't tell them when he was hurt, or not feeling well, and he definitely didn't let them see him cry. Neither one of them knew why he had suddenly stopped coming to them, but they had figured that it was faze he was going through.

"I just, never realised how lucky I was," Tai muttered as he wrapped his right arm around his waist as his left was being held by his mother. "Having the two of you as parents, I mean."

"You've lost weight, son," Susumu observed as he tightened his grip on his son. "You were only gone for two weeks, how'd that happen? Did the camp forget to feed you?"

"You're skin and bones," Yuuko added as she wrapped her whole hand around his wrist. "Taichi? What happened to you?"

Tai pulled away from the two of them, standing up while they remained sitting. The conversation was getting that little bit too close for what he was comfortable talking about. His dad went to stand and reach out to him, but Tai stepped back further to discourage him. Though his actions were defensive, and he had been doing them to everyone for years now, it seemed to have a different meaning for the two adults on the couch.

"Are you afraid of me Taichi?" Susumu asked tentatively. Tai blinked in shock before shaking his head.

"What are you afraid of?" Yuuko asked. "We're not going to hurt you."

Tai laughed bitterly before he could help himself. He sank onto the coffee table in front of them and rested his elbows on his knees. He felt so messed up.

"I talked with one of the guys at camp," he said softly, aware that his parents were hanging onto every word he said. "He said that I bottled everything up too much. We figured out that my anger was a cover for my doubt."

"Doubt about what?" Susumu asked softly.

"Doubt about my belonging in this family," Tai whispered, even softer. "It's been going on for a while, but I guess I really started to notice after Hikari got sick three years ago. I guess I just thought that I wasn't as important as she was, and that you didn't really want a son, just a daughter. So I got angry at others, but I figured, that if I kept Kari safe you would love me just as much as you loved her."

"My God," Susumu breathed. He dropped to his knees in front of Tai and pulled him into a hug even as Yuuko covered her mouth in horror. Tears appeared in her eyes, but with his eyes closed, Tai couldn't see them. He just rested his head on his dad's shoulder.

"But then I met Jade," he continued. "And even though she never said anything, I know that there is no love in her house. She has no idea what it is, and it hit me after talking with her, that I am lucky."

"We love you son," Susumu promised. "More than anything. The day you were born was the proudest day of my life. I have never regretted having you in my life, nor have I ever stopped loving you."

"I'm a horrible mother," Yuuko suddenly breathed. Tai looked up at her, even as Susumu turned to look at his wife in confusion.

"Mum?"

"I promised myself when you were born that I wouldn't become my own mother, but I did!" she explained. "My mother favoured my sister, your aunt, over me from the day she was born and I hated it. I promised that no child of mine would feel unloved, but I broke my promise. I failed you Taichi."

Tai slipped out of his dad's arms and wrapped his own around his mother. They both shed some tears, but Tai had to admit that when he pulled back from her he felt a lot better. Susumu pulled them both into a hug, and for several minutes they just sat there. Yuuko separated herself from them and disappeared into the kitchen to cook dinner for them, but Susumu stayed where he was. He loved his wife, he really did, but he loved his son just as much.

"I want you to promise me something Taichi," he whispered.

"What?"

"If you ever feel like we're treating you poorly, or that we're ignoring you, I want you to tell us."

"What if it's not important?"

"There is nothing more important to me than your happiness."

"What about Hikari's health?"

"I have more than enough love in my heart to care for both of you at the same time, and there are two of us to look after you."

"I love you dad," Tai muttered.

"And I love you, my son."

Tai leant against his father for several more minutes before realising that unless he moved he was going to fall asleep. He forced his dad away and told him that he was going to have a shower. Susumu watched him go, but once he was gone he walked up behind his wife.

"Where did we go wrong?" he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"He acts just like I did when I was little," Yuuko whispered tearfully. "He had no idea about consequences for his actions. And when Hikari came down with pneumonia I hit him. Do you think that it's my fault he doesn't think we love him? How badly have I let him down?"

"You haven't let him down," Susumu reassured her as she started to cry. "I guess we can be thankful that we know what he's feeling, rather than him bottling it all up like he has been. We know what we can fix now."

"You're right," Yuuko finally agreed as she turned around to face him. "What did I do to deserve such a wonderful man like you in my life?"

"You agreed to marry me," Susumu whispered as he kissed her. She laughed and pushed him away with a smile, telling him that she was going to prepare dinner and he should find something to do in the meantime. From the door to Kari and Tai's bedroom, two head disappeared and closed the door quietly behind them. Kari exchanged looks with Koromon, tears in her eyes.

"Tai doesn't think mum and dad love him?" she asked quietly.

"He does now," Koromon told her, slightly uncomfortable. He did not want to have this conversation with Kari.

"Is it because of me?"

"No!" Koromon reassured her. "He loves you more than anything. He's always talking to me about you."

Kari was still sad, but she vowed that she would talk to her brother later.

* * *

Tai stumbled out of the shower half an hour later. The hot water had felt wonderful, and he had kept being distracted by the lack of scars on his arm. It wasn't that he had wanted them there, but they had served as a reminder that he was alive…that he could still feel. He didn't have to hide it now, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He pulled a long sleeved shirt over his head and pulled his goggles on so that they hung around his neck as opposed to on his head.

As he was putting on his pants he thought about their task. Earlier that day they had figured out that the seven of them had seen the digimon fight in Hikarigaoka four years ago, which meant that the eighth child must have been there too. The only child that Tai could think of who had been there was Kari, and she had remembered Koromon when they had met earlier. He wasn't sure how he felt about Kari being a digidestined, it would be great to have more help, but she was his little sister.

With a wide yawn Tai walked into his room to see Kari and Koromon sitting on his bed. Kari looked close to tears and Koromon looked really uncomfortable. Tai paused for a moment before shutting the door behind him and holding out his arms to his sister for a hug. With a sob she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, ignoring his grunt from the force of the impact.

"I love you Tai," she whispered.

"And I love you," Tai told her. "What's wrong? Has Koromon been telling you stories of our adventures since we last saw you?"

"She was listening at the door," Koromon told him.

"Ah," Tai uttered. He lifted Kari with some difficulty and held her tightly as he sat on his desk chair. He knew that if he sat on his bed he'd fall asleep, and he needed to get Koromon something to eat.

"I think you're important," Kari whispered.

"I'm glad," Tai told her with a smile.

"Mum and dad love you a lot."

"I think I've always known that Kari," Tai revealed. "It's just that some days it's harder to remember than others."

"Why haven't you been eating?" Kari asked. "You didn't used to be this skinny."

"There wasn't always food available in the Digital World. I'm fine."

"Dinner's ready!"

"Come on, let's eat," Tai said as he put Kari down. "At this rate I'm going to fall asleep in my food. I'm exhausted."

"You look tired too."

"I'm hungry," Koromon told him. "Do you reckon I could have something to eat too?"

"I'll make sure that you eat whatever mum made," Tai promised him. "It smells good too. I've missed home cooked meals."

"Jade's a good cook," Koromon pointed out as he was lifted off the ground. "What she made for breakfast yesterday…man, I have never had anything so good before."

"It was pretty amazing," Tai agreed.

"Jade can cook?" Kari asked as she opened the bedroom door.

"Yeah, her relatives make her, but I don't think they let her eat what she cooks."

"Why do you say that?"

"Something she said when she sat down to eat with us," Tai mumbled. He dropped into his usual chair and placed Koromon next to him out of sight. "Smells great mum."

"Sure does, dear," Susumu agreed as he slid into place next to Tai. Tai rubbed his eyes sleepily, but he was determined to eat something and get some food into Koromon. Kari sat on his other side, with Koromon between them to sneak food to, and Yuuko sat opposite him. They started to eat, and for a moment everything felt normal.

"So, Taichi, you mentioned a Jade before?" Yuuko began. "Is she a new girl at school?"

"She's my Pen Pal from England," Tai told her. He smiled slightly, and he recalled that he hadn't actually spoken about the Pen Pal Project with either one of his parents. "As part of the program her class came to Japan to experience our culture and meet us face-to-face. They're at the school now, camping out in the gym because of the snow storm."

"And, Jade is the one who doesn't have a nice home life?" Susumu asked.

"She lives with her aunt and uncle, because her parents died when she was younger, but they didn't want to take custody of her."

"What happened to her parents?" Yuuko asked.

"Well, I don't really know," Tai admitted sheepishly. "Her aunt and uncle told her that it was a car crash, but her teacher told Sora that her parents had been murdered by a terrorist. And I know that Jade doesn't know for sure, as her dreams keep telling her something different."

"Did she like her bracelet?" Kari asked after holding her bowl below the table for Koromon to eat.

"She loved it," Tai told her with a smile. "Said it was the best present she had ever gotten. Thanks for helping with it."

"Today's her birthday, isn't it?" Kari continued. "Did you have something planned?"

"I was going to have a party with her and my friends tonight, but with the snow storm and our evacuation, she's spending tonight with her cousin and classmates."

"At least she has some family around," Yuuko attempted to reassure him.

"If he doesn't kill her," Tai sighed. "I'm worried. I know she was trying to be brave and all, but I know she was scared when we separated."

"We'll go see her tomorrow then," Susumu decided. "If their holiday has been cut short, I see no problem in a couple of well-meaning parents offer to act as tour guides. Your mother speaks fluent English you know?"

"Really mum?" Kari asked. "That's so cool. Can you teach me?"

"And me," Tai added. "I learnt a little throughout the year, but it is a very complicated language and I don't think I got it right."

"I'd be happy to," Yuuko promised. "But maybe once you're both completely recovered. You look exhausted Tai. Camp must have worn you out."

"Something like that," Tai told her. He rested his head on one propped up arm, and he tried to finish his food. Susumu and Kari retreated to the couch, but Yuuko remained at the table and watched as her son slowly became more and more tired, until he finally allowed his head to rest on the table, one hand still holding onto his bowl. He was unconscious.

"Susumu," Yuuko whispered to attract his attention. "Could you carry Taichi to bed? He's too tired to do so, on his own."

Susumu looked over to the table and nodded, a smile on his face. Like he had done when Tai was younger, he easily lifted him off the chair with his head resting on his shoulder. Susumu frowned at how light Tai was, and his expression of concern had tears appearing in Yuuko's eyes. He gently placed Tai down onto his bed, and Kari peaked around the door with Koromon in her arms.

"You need to go to bed too young lady," Susumu whispered.

"Okay daddy," Kari agreed.

"Hikari," Yuuko called before she disappeared. "Why don't you leave your new toy out here? I'll have it cleaned up for you to put on your bed in the morning."

Kari looked reluctant to part from the digimon, but at her mother's stare she placed him down on the table and disappeared into the bedroom. Susumu looked at his wife curiously, but she just kissed him and told him to watch television while she did the laundry. She picked up Koromon and carried him to the laundry where she put him down on the machine and stared at him.

"Alright Koromon," she began sternly. "Start talking. Who the hell chose my son as a digidestined, and why wasn't I told?"

* * *

Izzy couldn't believe that he was doing this for the sake of secrecy. He hated comedians, and now he was attempting to tell jokes. Out of everything he could have thought of to allay their suspicions, he picked comedy. He knew that he sucked, but the reaction from his parents was heart-warming. They were supportive of his "new" interest and encouraged him to keep practicing. He didn't know many people who would do the same. By the end of his performance though, he was stressed out and eager to get some food to his partner. So he praised his mother for her cooking and retreated to his room with the remainder of his dinner.

As he watched Tentomon eat he couldn't help but think on how lucky he was. He knew he was adopted, but he had no idea what had happened to his birth parents. Either way, he knew that not all children were treated well after being adopted or fostered. Jade was a prime example of this. He wondered how different she would be if she had known what love was before being rescued and sent to the Digital World, or even if she would have been sent there at all.

"Your mum is an awesome cook!" Tentomon told him with a grin. Izzy brought his thoughts back to the present instead of focusing on the "what ifs".

"She sure is," he confirmed.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, just how lucky I am," Izzy said without explaining much.

Tentomon finished off the rest of the plate without saying another word, but as soon as he was done he declared that he was tired. Izzy wanted to inspect the new programs on his computer, so while he worked on that Tentomon curled up next to him and started to snore instantly. With a smile, Izzy sat down at his desk and turned on his laptop. There were several programs that hadn't been there previously, so he clicked on them one by one to see what they did.

The first one was labelled 'KANKAN', and when it was activated it showed the picture of a Frigimon, Monzaemon and Numemon wearing bright skirts and doing the cancan. That was what the program did, and Izzy shut it down almost immediately with a shudder.

"Too bizarre," he muttered. His cursor moved over to the next program, this one labelled 'BALLOON'. This was a cartoon of a Chuumon pumping up a balloon until it exploded. Izzy covered his eyes in disturbance. That wasn't something that he needed to see. The next one was labelled 'RADAR' and he hoped that it was something helpful instead of bizarre.

"It's a map of Tokyo," Izzy said aloud. On the map was a red flashing light, and in his curiosity he clicked on it with his cursor. The map zoomed in and an image of Gennai popped up on the bottom right side of his screen.

"There's an unidentified digimon that just landed on Shiba-ura!" Gennai said urgently. "You're the only one that's still awake!"

Izzy baulked and quickly darted out of his room to grab the phone. Even though Gennai had said that he was the only one awake, he needed to see for himself. Tentomon woke up while he was hurrying, but didn't say anything as Izzy started dialling. He would call Tai first, and then he would try the others.

"Hello Mrs Kamiya," he said as the phone connected. "This is Koushiro, I was wondering if Tai was available to come to the phone?"

"_Hello Koushiro,_" Yuuko greeted. "_He's sleeping at the moment. Would you like me to wake him for you?_"

"No, I'm sorry to bother you," Izzy told her. "Could you tell him I'll see him tomorrow?"

"_Not a problem, goodnight Koushiro._"

"Goodnight," Izzy said before hanging up. He cursed silently before dialling the next number. No one was awake, and it seemed like the ringing of the phone hadn't woken them at all. He could feel desperation leaking into his mind, and he wished that he could call for Jade, but as she was at the school there was no chance that she would be let out just to help him deal with a renegade digimon.

"What are we going to do?" Tentomon asked as Izzy put the phone on his desk.

"We're going to have to do this alone," Izzy told him. He counted the money in his piggybank and grabbed what he needed before picking up the phone again. "I'll call a taxi to take us to where we need to go, and we'll make up a plan as we go along."

"I'm ready when you are," Tentomon announced. As Izzy was calling the taxi company, the digimon went to the cupboard and pulled out a jacket that he could use as a disguise. Moments later they were out the door and heading off to fight another battle.

* * *

Jade walked around aimlessly, humming different tunes softly as she moved. She hadn't seen another soul as she walked, nor did she have a destination in mind. She was hoping to find a park or something with tall trees she could hide out in, but she was fairly well rested despite having only slept a few hours, if that. From her brief look into the location of the digidestined, she recognised that all of them bar Izzy were sleeping. She hadn't interfered with Izzy's thoughts, just brushing them gently to see what he was doing, and she hadn't been surprised to see that he was on his computer.

That had been an hour ago, and now Jade was well and truly lost. She was next to a river, though she didn't know which one, and as her senses reached out she noted that there was a digimon in the water making its way towards her slowly. She heaved a sigh of regret before beginning her walk along the river. It appeared that even after the sun had gone down Myotismon's forces were searching for the eighth child.

A truck zoomed passed her, and she gasped as she recognised the feel of a digivice. The digimon in the water had increased its speed, so Jade did as well. Usually, a digivice meant that a digidestined was nearby, but Jade didn't think that that was the case this time. The digidestined had a certain 'feel' in her mind, but there was none of that present, it was just the digivice.

Jade couldn't help but gasp in shock when whatever digimon was in the water tipped over a water taxi. She heard the screams from the passengers as it flipped over, and even though she couldn't swim she could use her magic to pull the taxi closer to the shoreline. Heads started to pop out of the water, and screams were soon mixed in with the other noises of the night. She called out to them, giving them a direction to swim in, but as soon as police and ambulance forces started to arrive she ran off. She didn't want to be asked questions about what she saw, and she was annoyed that she had lost the digivice.

She followed the screams that she could just make out in the distance, before another familiar presence made itself known to her. Izzy's presence was strong in her mind, and he was easy to track, though she couldn't help but wonder how it was that Izzy knew he needed to be near the water. She hadn't called him, and she doubted that he was tracking the digivice.

As she came around the corner she spotted Izzy near the fence, staring up at the digimon who had previously been in the water. It was huge and disgusting, and the smell was awful. This digimon, Raremon, was like a pile of mush that happened to have sharp teeth and claws. Jade shuddered, but then she noticed that Raremon was chasing something. It looked like a cat, but this cat had a digivice in its mouth. Jade stepped into its path and held out her arms for it to leap into them.

Once she had the cat she turned and ran. Izzy and Tentomon could take care of Raremon, right now she needed to take care of the little cat in her arms.

* * *

Izzy gapped as his digivice suddenly activated to let him know that the eighth child was somewhere nearby. He pulled it off his bag and held it up, explaining to Tentomon that the child they were looking for was nearby.

"That's great news!" Tentomon told him excitedly. "You should run after him! If we lose him now we won't know where we'll find him next."

"Will you be alright here?" Izzy asked as he started to back away in the direction of the eighth child.

"I'll take care of Raremon!" Tentomon promised.

"Alright, I'm counting on you," Izzy said. "Digivolve, and good luck."

"You too," Tentomon called. He turned to face Raremon, and as he flew up into the air he digivolved into Kabuterimon. Izzy watched for a few seconds before turning and running. He couldn't let any of Myotismon's forces get a hold of the eighth child, the world as they knew it would end.

* * *

Jade shook her head as she realised Izzy was chasing her. She had removed the digivice from the cat's mouth and was now carrying it in her hand. What she needed to do was get out of the area and quickly, otherwise she would be overrun. Raremon was behind her, with Izzy in front of him, and off to the side she could sense Demidevimon. She was curious as to how they were able to track the digivice, but figured that Myotismon had figured that out before journey to this world.

"Well little cat," she muttered. "I'm just going to have to teleport again."

"You! What are you doing here?!"

Jade turned her head and frowned as she saw Demidevimon appear in her line of sight. He had been flying faster than she had first thought. She stopped running and glared at him, mentally noting that if she didn't disappear soon Izzy would spot her. But if she did leave soon, Izzy would be all alone with Demidevimon, and that she couldn't allow. So she telepathically sent a message to Izzy in the hopes that he would turn back to where Kabuterimon could help him.

_Koushiro, it's too dangerous for you here. Go back._

_Jade?_

_You are in great danger, go back to your partner._

_But-! The eighth child! He's here somewhere!_

_No, she is not here and you are running into a trap._

Izzy stopped running, and while he was seriously debating running forward more or not, he eventually decided to trust the voice in his head and turn back. Jade didn't show any indication that she had just had a conversation with someone, and achieved what she wanted. Instead, she tightened her grip on the cat and wished with all her might to be at the park. She had seen it from the bus, but hadn't been able to find it walking. Moments later she and the cat were gone, and Demidevimon's cry of outrage was all that lingered.

Still going back the way he had come, Izzy flinched at the cry and decided that he had made the right choice. He was no match for Demidevimon, it would be better if he went with his partner. Still, the knowledge that the child they were looking for was female was a good sign, though he wondered if Jade actually knew who they were looking for. She hadn't said anything about it before.

* * *

Yuuko put the phone down after talking to Koushiro and returned to the laundry room. Koromon was still sitting on the washing machine, and he looked really nervous. He hadn't really been able to answer her questions, and he hadn't told her anything about the digidestined or the status of the Digital World. It was at times like this that she wished Lily were still alive, she would have been able to get Koromon to talk within minutes.

"Koushiro called," she said quietly as she shut the laundry door again. "He wanted to speak to my son, any idea why?"

"Maybe their clothes got mixed up at camp?" Koromon suggested nervously. "I don't know."

"This would go a lot easier if you would just tell me what I want to know."

"But I can't answer you. It was agreed that we would keep everything a secret from everyone aside from those who already know about us."

"And you don't think that because I recognised you and waited until we were alone to talk to you, that I have no idea about the Digital World?" Yuuko stared down at Koromon in annoyance as the little digimon thought about her statement. "And for that matter, why are the digidestined needed in the Digital World again? What force is out there that Lucemon can't handle? Why weren't we called in before summoning children?"

"You were the one who abandoned our world?!" Koromon suddenly realised. "You're the digidestined who turned her back on us after your friend died! Why? Tai's not going to believe this!"

"You can't tell him," Yuuko warned him. "I didn't just turn my back on the Digital World. I turned away from everything that got Lily killed. It was magic that killed her, and it was magic that allowed us to go to the Digital World. I haven't spoken with the others in seven years, and I haven't seen Gennai in nine years. And Guilmon…"

By the end of her warning her voice had changed to resemble regret. Koromon understood her sadness a little. When Tai had died during the battle with Etemon, he had thought about running away so that he didn't have to watch his friends and their partners all the time, but Guilmon had been alone and both of them were probably missing each other. He had never met Guilmon, though he knew that there was a resemblance between them when he was Agumon, and for the first time he realised that it was because Tai was just like his mother. So he told the former digidestined everything he thought she needed to know.

He started with what he knew about the history of the Digital World, and their Sovereign, because the last time that Yuuko had been there it had been Lucemon was the ruler of the Digital World. He mentioned there being a battle, and when it was over Phoenixmon and Horcruxmon took over the ruling of the two worlds. He briefly outlined the tasks that they had been a part of, but didn't mention anything about any injuries Tai or the others had gotten. He spoke of Devimon, finding the crests, fighting Etemon, Myotismon, and now their quest to find another digidestined.

"So there is a child out there who needs to go fight a war in the Digital World because the Sovereign isn't strong enough to do it alone?" Yuuko asked once he was done. "Who is the child? Where is the child? How many digidestined are there?"

"We don't know who the child is," Koromon told her. "We know that the child's in Japan, and Myotismon thinks that they're in Hikarigaoka, but he hasn't had any luck yet. And there are seven of us at the moment, we're looking for the eighth."

Yuuko took in a steadying breath to control her desire to scream. Eight innocent children were being enlisted to fight in a war that shouldn't be happening in the first place. She needed to make a phone call, and possibly arrange for her former teammates to make a trip to Japan so that she could kill them. Her eyes focused on Koromon, noticing that he was exhausted and his blinks were getting longer. Her anger faded, she couldn't really blame any of the children for not knowing any better, but the adults were another story. She would call them as soon as Koromon was back with her son so that he could sleep.

"Remember Koromon, not a word of what we discussed," she cautioned.

"You have my word," Koromon muttered.

"Am I correct in assuming you would like me to put you with Taichi instead of Hikari?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Yuuko smiled and walked back into her children's bedroom. Hikari was still awake and playing with her dolls, but Taichi was dead to the world and still in the same position as he had been when his father set him down for the night. She was concerned about her son, and she knew that Koromon hadn't told her everything about what had happened. Months would have passed in the Digital World, and that would explain why Taichi had lost weight, but from what she could remember there had been plenty of food. She had never gone hungry, but times must have changed a lot.

"Sleep Hikari," she whispered as she set Koromon down next to Taichi. The boy immediately curled around Koromon protectively, yet he remained deeply asleep. Hikari smiled at her before burrowing under the covers.

"Mama," Hikari whispered back, before she shut the door. "Meeko hasn't come home."

"We'll look for him tomorrow," Yuuko promised. "Now go to sleep."

"Yes mama," Hikari agreed. Her eyes closed and soon she was just as dead to the world as her brother was in the bunk-bed below her. Yuuko quietly closed the door and walked back out to her husband. She mentioned that she needed to use the phone and would probably be a while. Susumu just smiled and decided that he would go to bed early so that he would have enough energy for work in the morning. Yuuko watched him go before she picked up the phone and dialled an almost forgotten phone number in Nairobi, Kenya.

"_Goeie middag, dit is Akili, hoe kan ek jou help?_"

"Akili, this is Yuuko Kamiya, have you updated your will recently?" Yuuko asked pleasantly in English. It was the one language all original digidestined knew fluently, and the language they usually communicated in.

"_Yuuko? This is a surprise,_" Akili told her, now in English. "_I update my will once a year. Why?_"

"Because they next time I see you I am going to kill you, then Michael, and then Gennai if I can get a hold of him."

"_What did we do?_" Akili asked in a shocked tone of voice.

"How dare you choose _my_ son as a digidestined and not tell me about it!" Yuuko hissed into the phone so she wouldn't wake her family. "I just received the shock of my life when Taichi walked through the front door with a Koromon in his hands. I don't want my son to be a part of a war in another world!"

"…_I'm going to make this a three-way call with Michael,_" Akili said nervously. "_Please hold while I play around with my phone._"

Yuuko was glaring, and even though he couldn't see her, she knew that he could feel her displeasure. The minutes ticked by in silence, and Yuuko just knew that Akili was briefing Michael on her state of mind before putting her on to join the conversation. The phone clicked and suddenly there was a new voice that sounded just a little apprehensive.

"_Yuuko, my dear friend of Compassion, please don't kill us_," Michael begged. "_We did try to contact you, but at the time you wanted nothing to do with us and didn't want to take part in the selection process._"

"Why choose my son?!"

"_Taichi possesses the same passion as you did,_" Akili explained. "_He, and his sister, both had the ability to assist in the digivolution process._"

"Are you telling me that my eight-year-old daughter is also a digidestined?!"

"_The Protector of Light_," Michael stated. "_You didn't know?_"

"From what I was able to convince Koromon to tell me," Yuuko began frostily. "The digidestined are searching for the eighth member of their group before Myotismon destroys Japan and uses _my daughter_ to take over the Human World and the Digital World!"

"…_I think it's time I took a holiday,_" Michael admitted. "_Akili, I can pick you up in fourteen hours. I just have to get the plane fuelled first. Yuuko, the two of us will be in Japan in about twenty-seven hours, if I remember my flight time correctly. I'll give you a call when we make it to the airport and we can discuss this face to face._"

"You had better have your will sorted as well," Yuuko warned him. "I am not happy with either one of you at the moment."

"_Cheer up little sister!_" Akili ordered. "_Soon we're going to be together again! We haven't been together since you, Lily and Michael brought your off-spring to the Digital World to gloat to Gennai. This will be great!_"

"I'm still going to kill you both," Yuuko warned before hanging up the phone. She rested her hands on the bench and heaved a great sigh. So, both her children were digidestined and her daughter was being hunted? She would see about that, no one hurt her children and got away with it. Now if she could just remember where she hid her digivice…

* * *

Jade stumbled when she finished her teleporting and allowed her body to sit on the ground as she concentrated on not throwing up. It hadn't felt like that the last time she had teleported, but this time it felt like her body was being dragged through a straw. The cat in her arms showed his dislike of the act and scratched her arm in an attempt to get away. She allowed him to drop to the ground and watched as he ran off. She slid the digivice into her bag where she wouldn't lose it before slinging her bag onto her back and standing up.

Several loud cracks echoed around her, and she just about screamed when the first thought that went through her mind was that someone was shooting at her. She ducked and covered her head protectively, but when she didn't feel like she had gotten shot she opened her eyes and looked up at the tall man who was now standing in front of her. Her eyes darted around nervously and she noticed another three men were behind her, effectively trapping her.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be wandering around on your own?" the man in front of her asked. Jade said nothing. These men had appeared from nowhere, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of them. Her default response was to be silent, it made others underestimate her.

"You're scaring her, boss," a man behind her said. "She's shaking like a leaf in a tornado."

At his statement, 'boss' knelt down so that he was at her height and smiled reassuringly. Jade didn't smile back. Her lack of response was obviously unnerving the men around her, but she didn't care.

"Well," 'boss' said as he cleared his throat. "Do you know what you just did?"

Jade furrowed her eyebrows. She had no idea what the man was talking about. Was she in trouble?

"Boss, you are terrible and talking to children," another man behind her said. She turned her head slightly to look at him, and tried to think of a way to get out of the situation she was in. She vaguely remembered Mimi telling her something about how to get a boy to do what she wanted, but she didn't think 'flirting' would get her out of this situation. That only left bursting into tears, but she hadn't really cried in years.

"You do it then, if you think you're so clever," 'boss' ordered.

"Great," the new man knelt down so that he was also at her height. "My name is Haru. My boss here, doesn't have kids of his own, and sometimes forgets that not everyone understands what he's asking."

A disgruntled 'hey!' brought a slight smile to Jade's lips, and she started to relax as Haru continued to talk to her.

"We're here, because you did something that we call 'apparating'. It is something like teleportation. Do you remember teleporting?"

Jade nodded. These people were obviously magicians if they knew what she had done. They must be a part of the Japanese magical community.

"Great!" Haru said with a smile. "Have you ever teleported before?"

Jade nodded again. This was her third time, if she remembered correctly. There was that one time at school when she was running from Dudley and his gang when she was seven and had ended up on the school roof, and then there was the time in the Digital World where she panicked at being inside a chest.

"Incredible," another man breathed. "How old are you?"

Jade held up nine fingers.

"Nine years old?" Haru asked. She nodded. "Where are your parents? It really is too late to be out on your own."

Jade felt her good mood fade away. Her shoulders slumped and she allowed a few tears to pool in her eyes, but didn't let them fall. She thought about how she could tell them everything, but she really didn't want to talk about what she knew. She remembered what had happened, vaguely, and she knew that she could force the images into Haru's mind. So she stared into his eyes and forced the dream of green light and cold laughter forward, followed by living in the cupboard under the stairs at her aunt and uncle's house, her trip on a plane to get to Japan, camp, and then Dudley and his friends dragging her out onto the road.

By the time she was done she had a slight headache and Haru had fallen over backwards in shock. His friends started to ask him what happened, two of them pulling out sticks that Jade assumed were wands. She rubbed her head slowly, wincing minutely as she brushed against the lovely bump she had gotten courtesy of her cousin. Haru was rubbing his own head as he brushed aside his friends' concerns.

"What's your name child?" he asked her, silencing the other comments. Jade sketched her name out in English in the dirt.

"Jade Potter?" Haru tried to confirm. Jade had only written her first name in the dirt. The fact that he apparently knew her last name as well made her nervous. Still, she nodded slowly and brushed over the dirt to get rid of her name.

"Potter?" 'boss' clarified. "This is Jade Potter? The Girl-Who-Lived?"

Jade frowned in confusion. Girl-Who-Lived? What type of name was that? She wanted to ask them, but at the moment she sensed another digimon nearby, this one from Myotismon's forces. Her eyes darted away from the men still surrounding her and up to the sky in time to see Phantomon and a group of Bakemon heading towards her. The magicians around her followed her line of sight and cursed at the sight of ghost digimon.

"Look what we have here," Phantomon crowed as he spotted Jade on the ground. "Lord Myotismon will be very pleased to see you, child."

Jade glared and set her feet apart so that she could move quickly when she needed to. Haru stepped in front of her protectively, much to her surprise, and in her moment of distraction the Bakemon struck. Jade stepped out from behind Haru and threw a fireball at the Bakemon in the lead. It burst into data particles instantly, and Jade told herself that she could mourn later.

"Fire spells will work!" 'boss' cried. "Get them!"

Jade pivoted to see the Bakemon coming from the other side and before the others could move she rushed forward to shield them. As she was facing the opposite way, she was unprepared for the attack that came at her from behind. She turned at the last moment, and instead of being scratched against her back, she received three claw marks down the left side of her face. She cried out and covered the injury with her hands. Haru had obviously thought through their battle, for he suggested a tactical retreat. He lifted Jade from the ground, and then disappeared with a loud 'crack'.

Jade passed out.

* * *

Each of the seven digidestined woke with a start, their hearts racing. As it was late at night, most of them were able to drop back off to sleep again, but Tai, Matt and Izzy remained awake. Matt walked around his apartment, noticing that his dad was home and snoring softly in his sleep, before checking all the doors and windows. Tsunomon watched him as he moved from his place on the couch.

"What is it Matt?" he asked quietly.

"You didn't just feel that?" Matt asked him in response.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"No, I don't think so," Matt muttered as he checked in on TK. The boy was still sleeping with Patamon curled up against his chest. "I have this strange feeling that something bad just happened, but I don't know what."

"You're meeting up with the others in a few hours," Tsunomon reminded him. "Go back to sleep and you can discuss it with them, see if they felt anything."

"You're right," Matt muttered. "Goodnight Tsunomon."

Izzy had just gotten in from fighting against Raremon, and his thoughts were on Jade. He knew that she had been in the area, protecting him, but he had no idea what had happened to her afterwards. The racing of his heart was telling him that she was in trouble, but the feeling had disappeared so quickly that he couldn't be sure that he'd felt anything like it before. He promised himself that in the morning he would check on Jade at the school before meeting up with the others. Decided, Izzy curled up under the covers and dropped off to sleep, hoping that nothing bad had happened.

Tai, on the other hand, knew instantly that Jade was in danger. His heart was racing against his ribs but he was shivering. Koromon slept on, and he made a mental note to thank Kari for setting the little digimon down on his bed. He got up quietly and snuck out onto the balcony for some fresh air.

_Jade? Are you alright? What happened?_

His mental questions went unanswered, which worried him more than he thought it would. It could have been that Jade was sleeping, but it could also mean that she had been knocked unconscious or…

"Tai? What are you doing out here?"

"Go back to bed Kari, everything's fine," Tai muttered.

"I woke up and you weren't in bed," Kari continued as she walked up to his side and leant against him. "I got scared, and I had a nightmare."

"Me too," Tai admitted, resting one arm across her shoulders protectively.

"Something bad happened," Kari continued.

"Yeah, but I don't know what."

"Are there digimon who look like ghosts?"

"Bakemon."

"Oh…a Bakemon attacked me in my dream and scratched my face," Kari muttered. "I was in the park, and there were people around me trying to protect me, but the Bakemon got through and there was blood on my hands. Then I woke up."

Tai listened to her explanation, and while he didn't say anything he had a suspicion that Kari's nightmare had been more than just a dream. What he didn't understand was why Kari had had that dream. He pulled out his digivice and stared at the screen. There was so much he didn't know about it, about what it could do. Surely it had to be more than a device to help digimon digivolve.

"What's that?" Kari asked, staring at the device.

"A digivice," Tai muttered. "Have you ever seen one before?"

"No," Kari stated with a shake of her head. Tai sighed partly in relief and partly in disappointment. If Kari had seen one before, the chances were high of her being the eighth digidestined, but as she hadn't seen one before it could mean that she wasn't the child they were looking for or that her digivice was missing and they needed to find it as well. Tai knew that it wouldn't have been that easy, but he had hoped that it would.

"Let's go back to sleep," he suggested. "It's late."

"Goodnight, big brother," Kari said, giving him a tight hug before hurrying off to bed. She climbed up to the top bunk and waited until Tai was lying down in his own bed before going back to sleep herself. Tai remained in his bed, but he didn't sleep for the rest of the night. Something had happened to Jade, and he wanted to be awake the moment she woke up, just so that he would know she was alright.

* * *

Jade opened her eyes a few hours later to find that she was wrapped up on a soft bed and that she wasn't sore. She sat up and looked around for her backpack, sighing in relief when she saw it nearby. Without hesitating she slipped out of bed and picked it up, noticing that her clothes were folded neatly next to it. She was wearing a white nightie, and her feet were bare, and she had no idea how she had gotten to where she was. Her eyes darted around the room rapidly, and she froze when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.

It wasn't often that she got to look at herself in a reflective surface, but she knew she looked greatly different from the last time she had seen herself. Her skin was lightly tanned from all the time she had spent in the sun in the Digital World, and her hair looked clean even if it was tangled up from sleeping. She still looked like she hadn't had a lot to eat, but that wasn't what had garnered her attention. It was the three claw marks on her face that looked weeks old, but still stood out. She walked closer to the mirror as she reached up to touch her face. Her fingers brushed over the minute scars before she traced them from her left eyebrow to her cheek.

"Ah, good morning. I didn't expect you to be awake this early."

Jade spun around to look at her visitor. She recognised Haru instantly, and nodded to him her own greeting before looking back at herself in the mirror. Haru walked up behind her and led her over to the bed so that they could both sit while he talked.

"Do you remember what happened?" Haru asked to start with. Jade nodded and crossed her legs on the bed. Her attentive position encouraged Haru to continue. "Well, the government is working on hunting down those creatures so that no one else gets hurt. We just haven't had much luck so far."

Jade raised one eyebrow. Of course they wouldn't have had much luck, the digimon would have hidden themselves in their secret base. If she had to guess, it would be in Odaiba somewhere because that was where they thought the eighth child was after the previous night's adventure.

"Our focus is currently in Hikarigaoka," Haru continued. "The monster attacks yesterday are definitely linked to our attack last night, but as Hikarigaoka was the first place they attacked we assume that that's where their base is. At the moment, we have no idea what they want or if they're capable of intelligent thought. We also have no idea who or what 'Lord Myotismon' is."

"He's an evil genius determined to rule the Human World," Jade told him, shocking him enough that he jumped slightly. "He, and his minions, are hunting for a special child in Tokyo somewhere. Last night's ambush was my fault. I'm a thorn in his side that he needs to get rid of in order to succeed in his assignment."

"Where do they come from?"

"Another world that you cannot gain access to," Jade explained. "Not all 'monsters' you come across will be evil. There are a few that are here to protect the humans of this world."

"And you?"

"They'll try to protect me. What time is it?"

"Um…just passed eleven in the morning. Can you tell me the best way to fight against these monsters?"

"Don't," Jade suggested. "Run from them because most you come across here won't give a damn about bystanders when they start blowing things up. The only thing that can stop them are the digidestined."

"Digidestined?"

"If you want to help, then let them do what they need to without getting in the way. Now, I need to get out of here before my friends start up a search party for me. They worry when I'm not with them, and they'll worry more when I'm not where I'm supposed to be."

"Where are you supposed to be?"

"At Odaiba Elementary, but my cousin tossed me out onto the road and I decided that it was safer if I found somewhere else to be."

"Before you go," Haru began as she stood up. "Could you give me a description of these…digidestined…so that we can keep an eye out for them and provide backup if they need it?"

Jade agreed to the demands, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake, and gave Haru the names of each digidestined and their partners. Haru also explained that there was some kind of poison or substance in the claws of the Bakemon that prevented the scars on her face from completely healing. In time, they would fade until they would be barely noticeable, but for now she would have to make do. He also gave her a way to contact him if she needed help. So her backpack now had a cell phone that apparently ran off magic.

At twelve-ish, Jade managed to get away from the magicians to search for the digidestined. She scaled a tree and made herself comfortable in the branches before stretching out her mind to look for Tai.

* * *

Tai was worried. He and his parents had walked to Odaiba Elementary, he to look for Jade and his parents to offer the school a tour of Tokyo, but he hadn't succeeded. There were a few students who expressed interest in a tour, so they went with the nice English teacher and Tai's parents, but the others remained in the school. Jade was also nowhere to be found and she still wasn't responding to his mental cries. Agumon, who had digivolved in the night after having eaten and slept, was tailing him and wearing a 'disguise' of a blue hoody. When Yuuko and Susumu left with the English students, Agumon caught up to him and they walked to where they were meeting the others.

Matt and TK were already there and waiting, and after Tai arrived Izzy showed up. Sora arrived after having run the whole way, with Biyomon flying above her, and then Mimi arrived with Palmon in a pram. The only one they were waiting for was Joe, so they all made themselves comfortable on the ground in order to discuss what had happened since they had last seen each other.

"Alright, I'm a positive that the eighth child we're looking for is in Odaiba," Izzy started off. "Last night, when Tentomon and I were down at the bay, my digivice went off. I theorised that the eighth child was near the bay last night, but I was unable to find her as I received a warning from Jade to abandon my search and return to Kabuterimon."

"Jade was at Shiba-ura?" Tai asked instantly.

"I never saw her," Izzy told him. "But she did warn me that I was walking into a trap. I lost the signal shortly after. I figured that I could ask Jade about it when we saw her today. Weren't you going to bring her here Tai?"

"Jade is not at Odaiba Elementary, I think she disappeared sometime last night, probably just before you heard her," Tai admitted. "I have this horrible feeling that something bad happened to her, but she isn't responding to my mental calls. She's never not answered before."

"I felt that something was wrong last night," Matt spoke up. "I woke up and walked around the apartment to make sure that everything was alright."

"I woke up like that last night too," Sora revealed. "But I went right back to sleep when I noticed Biyomon was still asleep."

"Me too," Mimi added. "It was like I'd had a nightmare but I couldn't remember it when I woke up."

"Kari and I were awake as well," Tai said. "And now I'm positive that we all felt something happen to Jade, and I think I know what."

"What?" everyone asked him.

"I think she was attacked by Bakemon and they injured her. Oh man, she's probably a prisoner of Myotismon and that's why she's not responding. He probably thinks that she knows who the eighth child is and kidnapped her to get her to tell him."

"Calm down Tai," Matt ordered. "When we're out searching today we can keep an eye out for Jade as well."

"Right," Izzy agreed. "Now, I have a theory about who we need to look for."

"Wait! Don't start without me! I love Izzy's theories!"

The children turned from their comfy positions and watched as Joe ran as fast as he could to join them. It wasn't until he was sitting with them and panting to regain his breath that Izzy continued with his explanation.

"Alright, so we've already concluded that each of us saw the same event in Hikarigaoka four years ago. We can safely assume that witnessing the two digimon battle is what allowed us to be chosen to be digidestined. This means, that the eighth child would have had to have been there too. I'm also certain that the eighth child is a girl, as that is how Jade referred to them."

"That makes sense," Sora agreed.

"But what do we need our address books for then?" Mimi asked as she held up her pink address book.

"We all lived in Hikarigaoka four years ago, that means that the eighth child lived there too," Izzy explained. "We need to call everyone in those books to see if they moved or if they remember what happened. Time is of the essence."

"I can do some calling," Joe said as he raised his hand. "But I have a test this afternoon that I really need to study for. It's been months since I last studied."

"The fate of the world is at stake and you're worried about a test?" Matt asked him as he stood up. "You can call all the names in my book while I search on foot."

He dropped his address book onto Joe's lap, and he picked it up with an expression of disbelief on his face. Izzy also seemed to agree and passed Joe his book, followed by Mimi and then Sora. TK didn't have an address book as he had been too young at the time to go to school, but with five address books to go through already Joe nearly had a heart attack as Tai stood in front of him as well.

"Not you too Tai!" he begged.

"You're busy enough as it is," Tai told him.

"Oh thanks Tai, you're a great guy!"

Tai grinned sheepishly. Truthfully, he had lost his address book years ago. He also didn't think that the answers were in the address books, and until they found proof for the location and identity of the eighth child, he would assume that it was his sister and act accordingly to protect her from Myotismon. He was about to speak again, ignoring the comments of the others who were walking away, when a familiar presence appeared in his mind. A smile lit up his face and he cheered.

"Jade's alive!" he called to everyone. "Yes!"

_That was an 'over-the-top' reaction Tai,_ Jade told him.

Tai sat down on the ground again and closed his eyes so that he could talk with her without looking like he was staring off into space. Joe remained next to him, and the others stopped walking in order to hear how Jade was when Tai saw fit to tell them.

_I've been trying to contact you for hours! Where have you been?_

_Unconscious. Did you know that the Bakemon had a type of oil or something on their hands that make it impossible for their scratches to heal?_

_You were attacked by Bakemon? Then Kari wasn't having a nightmare based off the stories Agumon and I told her._

_Kari dreamed about me?_

_Were you in Shiba-ura last night? Izzy said that you warned him out of a trap._

_Yeah, I was chasing a cat that had somehow gotten a hold of a digivice, and I know that it wasn't one of yours. I have the digivice with me now, and I've arranged for us to have some backup if we get into a fight that our digimon can't handle alone._

_Who?_

_The Japanese magicians! They are real, and they are willing to follow your lead when it comes to matters of 'dealing with the monsters'. They also tried to heal my most recent injuries, and I'm now ready to look for this eighth child._

_We're breaking up into groups, but Joe's going to be calling up people we used to know to see if they remember the digimon battle four years ago._

_What?_

_Joe will be at his apartment, join him and he will explain everything._

_Alright, I'll see you later!_

Tai opened his eyes to find that TK had gotten closer to him and their noses were almost touching. TK yelped as he saw that Tai was now back with them and scrambled backwards. Tai briefly explained that Jade would join Joe and that if they saw people tailing them they would be the Japanese magicians who were going to help them if they needed it. The group accepted his explanation, though after they left Tai whispered to Joe that apparently Jade had a new injury and that she had the eighth child's digivice. Joe promised to take care of it, and then Tai rushed off to join Izzy.

It was time to find the eighth digidestined.

* * *

**And out comes another chapter! Next we will see the reunion between the original digidestined, possibly a reunion between Wizardmon and Yuuko, something that will cause Dudley to have a change of heart about his cousin, and some other stuff that's buzzing around my head at the moment. Congratulations to everyone who guessed Yuuko as the Digidestined of Compassion! Surprise to those who hadn't guessed it!**

**We're leading up to the end of the first season (Yay!) but I won't be starting the second season for a while. There is so much that happened between the end of the first season and the start of the second, and in this story we also have Jade starting her magical education. So much to do, so little time. Let me know what you think of everything!**

"Goeie middag, dit is Akili, hoe kan ek jou help?" = "Good afternoon, this is Akili, how can I help you?"

**Answers for my reviewers!**

**ultima-owner: In time. A lot of things are going to change for the children of Surrey Primary.**

**KhaalidaNyx: Sort of. The children are essentially mundane-born children, and will start to learn about magic when they turn 11 (except for Joe who turned down the invite). Joe is also the only child who is mundane-born, everyone else has at least one parent who has magic.**

**DIGI-MASTER-FAN: Kari, but Jade will have her part to play when that moment arrives.**

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 23: The Fog of Odaiba_**


	23. The Fog of Odaiba

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Gennai has given the digidestined bad news: there is an eighth digidestined in Japan, and Myotismon, their new enemy, is on his way to get her. It is now a race against time to get home. If they lose this race, it will be more than the Human World that is in danger...every world will be facing its destruction. The children and digimon have opened the Gateway to the Human World and are now home. All they have to do now is figure out who the eighth child is, and protect the child from Myotismon. Simple right?_

_All the children made it home to their families, and it came to light that Yuuko, Tai's mother, is aware of the Digital World. Currently, only Agumon is aware of her knowledge, keeping it as a secret at her request. Jade was attacked by Bakemon after retrieving the eighth digivice and being kicked out of Odaiba Elementary by her cousin and his friends. She has also come into contact with the Japanese magicians, and the digidestined are aware that she is alright. She is now on her way to visit Joe and get into contact with the original digidestined: Michael (Determination) from America, and Akili (Wisdom) from Africa._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 23: The Fog of Odaiba

* * *

August 1 1999

Jade had no idea where Joe lived, but she could sense where he was and just followed that until she got to him. She was lucky that she spotted him before he got into his apartment, because otherwise she might not have been able to get the right building or the right room straight away. She skipped up towards him, but before she could get close to him he stopped and pulled out his digivice. She figured that it had activated once she got close as she had the eighth child's digivice in her backpack still. Joe spun around, staring at his digivice, and when it told him that she was in front of him he looked up.

She grinned happily at him as she continued her journey forward, but Joe's expression rapidly changed. First there was surprise, then joy at her appearance, and then horror as he took into account her injury across her face. Jade kept the grin on her face as she stopped in front of him, and remained still as he raised a hand to lightly touch her scars.

"Tai said that you were injured," he said softly. "Bakemon did this?"

"Yes," Jade said with a small nod. "I didn't hear it sneaking up behind me, but the magicians healed me as much as they could. They said that in time the scars would be so faint that I wouldn't notice them. It's just that, until then, I'll have some pretty noticeable scars on my face."

"I…see," Joe told her. "You also have the eighth child's digivice? Is that what caused my digivice to react?"

"Oh!" Jade exclaimed as she pulled off her backpack and pulled out the digivice. "I almost forgot about it. I found it last night and I'm going to hold it until I can identify the eighth child."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Can I use your phone to make a call to America?" she asked with a smile. Joe nodded and led her inside. Gomamon popped out of the bag that Joe had hanging from his shoulder and Jade carried him in her arms as they traveled up. As they walked, Joe explained what they had discussed earlier that day, and the assumption that the eighth child had been in Hikarigaoka four years with them. Jade listened silently, though she did giggle when Joe showed her the address books he was supposed to call.

"What's your test about?" Jade asked as he opened his door.

"Advanced Mathematics," Joe muttered. "I'm going to fail, I just know it."

"You can study if you like," Jade continued as she looked around the apartment. "I'll just borrow your phone and play with Gomamon for a while."

Joe nodded and led her to the study where the phone was. She held it in her hand and watched as Joe quickly set out his mathematics books, his pens and his notepad. He started to write immediately, and Jade grinned at Gomamon before she made herself comfortable on the floor and pulled out the piece of paper Gennai had given her from her backpack. With her tongue between her teeth she slowly dialed Michael's number, deciding that it would be best to call him first.

"_This had better be important. Who the hell calls someone this late at night?_"

The boy who answered the phone sounded young, possibly around Tai's age, and he was speaking in English. He also sounded really annoyed.

"Hi, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so late. I'm calling from Japan," Jade told the boy on the other end of the phone in English.

"_Japan? Who is this?_"

"Jade," she answered. "I'm looking for Michael."

"_My name's Michael. You looking for me or my dad?_"

"Your dad, is he there?"

"_Nope, he left this morning to travel to Japan_," Michael told her with a yawn. "_He stopped in Nairobi first, so he's probably just left there. Give it twelve hours or so and he'll be where you are. What do you need him for anyway?_"

"He and my mum were friends before she died," Jade explained with a frown. She had missed him, but he was on his way to Japan so that was something, and if he stopped in Nairobi first that meant that he was picking up Akili before heading to Japan. It was going to be a digidestined reunion. "Is there another number I can get him at?"

"_Sure, just give me a minute while I find is cell phone number…where's that damn light? Damn it!_"

Jade listened with a growing smile on her face as she listened to Michael stumbling around in complete darkness to find a phone number for her. When he gave it to her he asked another question.

"_So, who was your mum?_"

"Lily," she told him. There was a crash from the other end of the phone.

"_You're Aunt Lily's daughter?_"

"Aunt?"

"_Well, yeah, dad talked about her all the time. You're Jade right? We even met once, though I doubt you remember it. You would have only been a few months old then. I don't even remember where we were, but dad, Aunt Lily and Aunt Yo-Yo had gathered so that we could play together. Aunt Yo-Yo had a little boy, but we haven't seen each other since Aunt Lily was killed. Wow, I didn't think you were still alive. Dad was worried about you, but he had no idea where to find you. You've been in Japan?_"

"Yeah, for the past few weeks," Jade confirmed. "But I'll be going back to England shortly. I'll see if I can contact your dad. Thanks again!"

"_No problems, maybe we could meet each other again one day?_"

"We'll see. Goodnight!"

Jade hung up the phone and started to dial the next number. She hoped that Michael Senior would answer, she wanted to know what was going on. Gomamon was silent as he watched her, and the only sound that echoed in the room came from Joe mumbling to himself. Jade pressed the phone to her ear again and waited as it connected.

"_You've reached Michael J Barton, how can I help you?_"

"Determination?" Jade asked hesitatingly. There was a curse from the other end of the phone, what sounded like a crash from the phone hitting the ground, and then more cursing as the holder tried to find the phone.

"_There are only a few people who would call me that,_" Michael eventually said as he reclaimed the phone. "_Gennai sounds older, the lovely Yuuko has already called me and knows that I'm on my way, Akili is sitting next to me giggling like a school girl, so that leaves sweet little Jade, the Little Princess of the Digital World. Am I correct?_"

"Of course you are," Jade said with a giggle. "You're coming to Japan?"

"_Seems like there's some danger afoot and when Compassion calls us to say that we're going to die, we got on the first plane possible. Are you in Japan Little Princess?_"

"Yeah, I have been for a week or so," Jade admitted. "There is actually a reason that I'm calling."

"_To find out who the Child of Light is, yeah, we already know that._"

"Who is it?" Jade asked. "She's in great danger, and with her partner working for Myotismon there's no telling when she'll be discovered."

"_I'm not sure if you're familiar with everyone's names,_" Michael admitted. "_But the Child of Light is the little sister of Courage and the daughter of Compassion._"

"Hikari?!" Jade gasped out. "And then Compassion is her mum? Oh man."

"_We'll be landing around eleven pm-ish, Japan time,_" Michael continued. "_I would recommend getting as close to young Hikari as soon as possible. This is going to turn into a great story and as soon as it is over I want to hear all of it._"

"Deal, say hi to Akili for me!"

"_Be careful Little Princess, I don't like the sound of this Myotismon character, and I haven't been able to get in touch with Gennai for a while._"

"I'll be careful," Jade promised, and then she hung up. Gomamon looked at her curiously and Joe stopped writing so that he could spin on his chair to watch her.

"Was that success I heard?" he asked.

"Yep!" Jade told him cheerfully, once again speaking Japanese. "I know who the eighth child is!"

"You said 'Hikari' before, is that who it is?" Gomamon asked as he head-butted her crossed legs.

"Tai's sister," Jade told him with a nod. "I'm going to find her and then tail her just in case someone else figures it out as well."

"You're not going to tell the others?" Joe asked curiously.

"Not just yet," Jade confirmed. "They're all doing stuff around Tokyo, and it's better that Myotismon thinks that we haven't found her yet. And then tonight the original digidestined are going to be reunited after years of not seeing each other. Michael and Akili will land around eleven-ish, and then they'll make their way to Odaiba."

"Excellent!" Joe cried happily. "That's so good to hear!"

"Does that mean you're leaving?" Gomamon asked sadly.

"I can play for a bit," Jade reassured him. "And then when Joe's taking his test I'll go and find Hikari. Or I could meet up with my spy in Myotismon's ranks."

Gomamon grinned happily and Jade lifted him into the air to leave the study so that Joe could do some serious studying without either of them bugging him. They made themselves comfortable in the lounge room and in moments their laughter echoed around the apartment as they played games ranging from tag to tickle attacks. Gomamon never mentioned the scars on Jade's face, but on the inside he was angry that anyone dared to harm her. He would have to get together with the other digimon and plan a counter attack, even if it wasn't something that Jade would want.

At three Joe came out of the study and announced that he was going for his test and that he needed to get across the bay to Hinode. Jade followed the two of them to the water bus terminal, but after that she began to leisurely walk around Japan without a care in the world. She made sure to avoid going close to the Elementary School, and when she saw some of her classmates she walked off in the other direction as quickly as she could. On a few occasions she noticed people tailing her, and when she recognized Haru she realized that the Japanese magicians were looking after her from a distance.

Still in her bag was Hikari's digivice, and she kept an eye out for Myotismon's army as they would be tracking it. It was also due to the digivice that she was reluctant to go off and find Hikari, because she would be in danger if they came across a digimon that meant her harm. Instead, she decided that Wizardmon deserved a visit from her. There would be time later to get in touch with the digidestined of Compassion, and Tai would protect his sister despite not knowing her destiny.

Her thoughts turned to Gatomon. It was such a shame that a protector digimon was corrupted as Gatomon had been. The digimon had probably felt so lost and lonely before Myotismon found her, and Jade was really grateful that at least Wizardmon was protecting her in secret. It was as she wandered aimlessly passed an apartment complex that she noticed the digimon she had thought about tailing after a girl in a yellow top and pink shorts.

For one heart-stopping moment Jade panicked, but as the moment passed she realized that there was no threat to the girl who had to be Hikari. Gatomon would never harm her partner, no partner digimon would. No matter how loyal Gatomon thought she was to Myotismon, there would be that feeling in her heart when she was near Hikari that would prevent her from harming her. But, if Gatomon had found the eighth child meant that their window to stop Myotismon was getting smaller.

On the positive side, Jade now knew where Tai, Hikari and the digidestined of Compassion lived.

Moving on, Jade started to whistle as she walked. Her cheerful mood didn't last long as she felt four partner digimon digivolve. That meant that Mimi, Sora, Izzy and Tai were in trouble. She started to make her way in the direction the four of them were in, but before she could get too far she was interrupted by Wizardmon.

He stepped out in front of her, and while she smiled at him in greeting, he didn't smile in return. She had the distinct impression that he was unhappy with her, and when he pulled a light pink crest from his cape that was flashing she realized why. Her grin turned sheepish but she didn't apologize. It was better that she had Hikari's digivice for the time being.

"You're asking for Myotismon to find you," he warned her. "And if I get caught with you we're both going to be in a lot of trouble."

"I could reach out for digimon in the area and warn you if anyone was on their way," Jade proposed. "I haven't done it much here except for with the partner digimon because it hurts in this world."

"I had heard that Phantomon and his Bakemon got you yesterday," Wizardmon remarked as the two started to walk. "I see his claims were not an exaggeration. Your wound, however, looks weeks old."

"The magicians here healed me as much as they could," Jade explained.

"So you've met them then?"

"Only a handful here in Japan," Jade muttered. "Tom told me about the 'wizards' in England…I'm not too keen on going back."

"You do what makes you happy," Wizardmon ordered. "Whatever you decide, your mother and I will be proud of you."

"Thanks," Jade whispered. "So, how is everything progressing?"

Wizardmon launched into a tale about how Myotismon had narrowed down where the eighth child was located to Odaiba, and how his gaze was focused on Gatomon. He knew that it was only a matter of time before she found her partner, and once she came for the real crest he would put his last plan into action. Jade followed up his story by informing him that Michael and Akili were on their way to Japan on Yuuko Kamiya's order. That news brought a light to Wizardmon's eyes that hadn't been there before, and Jade felt pleased with herself.

The two separated shortly after in fear that someone would spot them together and ruin everything, but Wizardmon promised that he would stick closer to Gatomon than he had previously. With a nod of agreement, Jade continued walking, paying close attention to the four digimon who had digivolved. Greymon had digivolved to Metalgreymon while she was talking, but now the digimon were back in their Rookie forms and seemed to be fine.

She was also getting hungry. She had gone for longer without food before, but having something in her stomach always helped in the long run.

"Jade! Matt, it's Jade!"

Jade spun on the spot as she heard her name being called out and grinned when she saw Matt and TK running towards her with Patamon on TK's head and Tsunomon in Matt's arms. She rushed towards them and hugged TK as his arms went around her waist, before grinning up at Matt. He, like Joe, looked horrified at her new scars and gently brushed his hand against them.

"They don't hurt," Jade promised him as she stepped back from TK.

"What are you doing around here?" Matt asked, lowering his hand.

"Tailing people, chatting with spies, making my way towards Tai, Izzy, Mimi and Sora to see if they're alright," Jade answered. "Something made their digimon digivolve earlier, and I think they're fine now but I was concerned."

"There is something on the radio about Tokyo Tower," Matt mused. Patamon jumped off TK's head and into Jade's arms, his little face nuzzling her own.

"Do you know who the eighth child is?" TK asked. "We were following the signal when we saw you."

"You won't find her that way," Jade told him. "I have her digivice, which is what you are searching for, but it's not safe to give it to her yet. When Michael and Akili get here everything will be alright."

"Michael and Akili?" Tsunomon asked.

"Who are they?" Patamon asked as well.

"The original digidestined," Jade explained as they started to walk again. "They were already on their way here when I called, something about the digidestined of Compassion telling them that they were going to die. She's not happy with them."

"Why not?" TK asked.

"Because she wasn't consulted when you digidestined were chosen. Now, on to more important matters, do you have any food on you?"

Matt and the digimon looked at each other without saying a word, but TK simply smiled and started to lead her in the direction of the nearest fast food restaurant. He was explaining that Matt had money, and that after they had eaten he was going to make sure that TK got home to his mum because he hadn't seen her yet. That made Jade curious, having assumed that everyone had gone home the night before, but she didn't ask as it wasn't her business.

The five of them ate quite happily together, their laughter echoing around the small restaurant, but Matt was quiet as he observed the girl they had run across. In all their time in the Digital World, not once had he ever heard Jade ask for food. For her to ask now, in the Human World, it meant that she was really hungry and probably hadn't eaten since being in the Digital World. They certainly hadn't eaten at camp, but Matt remembered how much of a bully Dudley was and didn't find it too unbelievable to think that he had arranged it so that he had her food. Pig.

It also didn't take a genius to figure out that Jade didn't want to go back to the school, but he couldn't just leave her on the street. He needed to get TK home, but that wouldn't take too long and Jade could stay with him once they were done. His dad wouldn't mind having another kid in the apartment, he wasn't there much anyway.

As the afternoon dragged on Matt lead his small group to the train station and bought a ticket for each of them. At first Jade had protested, not wanting to be a bother, but Matt bought the ticket despite her protests and pushed her on the train so that they would all ride together. TK distracted her soon enough, and Patamon remained in her lap to keep her there. The two of them told her all about how their day before went, and the play that Sora had put on when a baby pulled on Yokomon's hair causing her to cry out. Jade laughed. She also got to hear about the fight between Birdramon and Mammothmon, and the problems they had with Gesomon in the river.

Time passed slowly, but eventually the train emptied and Jade finally asked where they were going. She hadn't realized that TK lived so far away from everyone else. TK and his mum lived in the Sangenjaya district of Setagaya, and summer camp was the first time in years that the brothers had seen each other.

"How much longer Matt?" TK eventually asked. The boy pulled out his digivice to look at the time, and Jade blinked in surprise in seeing how late it actually was. It was almost ten past seven at night, and she really needed to get back to Odaiba to keep an eye on the Kamiya family.

"Relax TK, you're almost home," Matt reassured him.

"It's late," TK continued. "You should get off at the next stop."

"No, I'll take you all the way to Sangenjaya," Matt refused. Jade's eyes flickered between the two brothers, suddenlyfeeling very uncomfortable.

"It's okay."

"TK," Matt sighed. "Let me do this."

Jade looked at Patamon on her lap, and then across to Tsunomon who sat between the two boys. Both digimon looked just as uncomfortable as she did, but neither one of them spoke. Jade started to tap her fingers on Patamon's head, not really sure what to say now. She was tired, but she had slept most of the morning in whatever room the Japanese magicians had given her, but she had also spent the rest of the day walking around. The food Matt had bought for her was great, and while it had given her energy for a while, a couple of hours of sleep would help even more.

"Do you not like separating?" Patamon suddenly asked. Jade's attention flickered back to the digimon and the boys. TK glared at his partner, and Jade realized that Patamon had breached a sensitive topic. She rested her hand over Patamon's mouth so that he couldn't continue to talk.

"You shouldn't talk about us brothers like that," TK scolded. Jade felt Patamon shrink in on himself, sensed the hurt he felt and the worry from Tsunomon. Digimon didn't have parents like humans did, they didn't understand what separation meant, and Jade doubted that either of the boys had explained it to them. Jade tried to sooth Patamon, but the hurt that he was feeling was too great. As the train stopped at the next station he jumped off her lap and flew out the opening doors.

"Patamon!" she cried in shock. She and Matt jumped off the seat and started to run for the door, but where Matt stopped to wait for TK who hadn't moved, Jade kept running. If she lost the brothers it didn't matter because she could always follow their crests, but if she lost Patamon in such a large city she might never be able to find him midst the emotions of the people around her. She continued to run, doing her best to keep Patamon in sight, and ignoring the strange looks she was getting for being on her own so late at night.

_Patamon? You know TK didn't mean to make you sad_, she thought at him.

_Why does he always yell at me?_ Patamon asked, his inner voice full of sorrow.

_Because he likes you_, Jade said after a moment or two. She really had no idea how to answer that. _Do you really think he'd yell at complete strangers? Maybe TK was just as hurt as you are because you said what he was thinking?_

Patamon stopped trying to fly away and returned to Jade, allowing her arms to wrap around him. She continued walking, and as she moved she tried to find Matt, TK and Tsunomon. She was quite surprised when she realized just how far away they had gotten, or it could be that the others went the opposite direction to what she went.

"I don't like fighting with TK," Patamon whispered.

"I don't like it when you fight either," Jade admitted. "You are my Protectors after all, how can you protect me when you're fighting among yourselves?"

"Does your face hurt?" Patamon asked softly, his ears reaching up to brush across her scars.

"No," Jade reassured him. "I sometimes forget that they're there, until someone reminds me. Don't worry, you'll be able to get your revenge on Phantomon and the Bakemon. I'm pretty sure that Gomamon already has a plan in mind."

"We were all worried when the others couldn't find you for the meeting this morning," Patamon continued in a softer tone of voice. "We knew that you were alright, but we had no idea where you were. This world is different from the Digital World."

"You'll get used to it," Jade promised. "After all, this is TK's home and despite how awesome the Digital World is, the others will need to come back here to their families."

"And you?"

"If I could stay in the Digital World for the rest of eternity, I would do so. There isn't anything for me here, aside from the digidestined."

"What about your partner?"

"I'm kind of punishing him at the moment," Jade admitted sheepishly. "In his madness he practically destroyed the Shadow World, which is why there is so much darkness in the Digital World."

"What is the Shadow World?"

"A world of darkness," Jade sat down on the nearest park bench and hugged Patamon tighter to her chest. "In the Beginning, there was one world, but it was too crowded and couldn't hope to sustain so much life. The ruler of this world, God, created other worlds where life forms could live in peace. The humans were led to this world, the Human World, and many centuries later they created the Magical World because they didn't want to mingle. It was too dangerous and anyone with magic in their blood were being slaughtered.

"Creatures of light and darkness were taken to what is now the Digital World, but the balance was too hard to keep up. Lord Lucemon, the ruler of the Digital World before me, used his life force to create the Shadow World for all the dark creatures. Like the Human and Magical Worlds, the Digital World and the Shadow World are almost completely identical. The Shadow World is a shadow of the Digital World, and home to dark digimon and dark creatures alike."

"But why were they separated to start with?"

"Dark cannot exist without light, just as light cannot live without the dark. But there needs to be a balance, and when the two exist on the same plain of existence, wars will break out and the balance would be disrupted. That's why the digidestined help with the maintenance of the Digital World, to keep the darkness in the Shadow World. There are dark creatures who act as your opposites, those who are supposed to support the Shadow World, but with Tom's madness they haven't been able to succeed."

"Who are our opposites?"

"As much as I hate to say it, Myotismon was created by Tom to help support everything."

"Myotismon?!" Patamon almost yelled. "He's supposed to be protecting the Shadow World? Then why is he in the Human World and the Digital World?"

"I don't know Patamon," Jade admitted. "But I plan on finding out."

The two were silent for several minutes, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The only time that Patamon tensed up was when a man sat down next to Jade with a sigh. Jade looked at him from the corner of her eye, her body tensing as well, but all he did was lean forward so that his elbows rested on his knees and his eyes stared at the ground. When he spoke, it was soft enough that Jade had to strain her ears.

"A vampire-like creature was spotted in town a few minutes ago," he whispered. "He is not a true vampire, and my superiors think he is one of the monsters you and the 'digidestined?' are chasing. There were also two small creatures, one who looked like it was made of rocks and the other a child wearing a pumpkin on his head. The vampire-like creature was following two blonde boys."

"TK," Patamon whimpered in fear. Jade nodded and stood up, allowing Patamon to rest on her head. She looked back at the man who had to be a magician.

"Evacuate the area if you can," she whispered back. "He is dangerous and has no problems killing to get what he wants."

The man nodded but didn't move until Jade was gone. He had done his task, and while he had questioned the intelligence of telling a child about the monsters, obviously it had been the right call. As he walked in the opposite direction Jade had taken, his thoughts turned to her identity. What was so important about this child?

Jade ran as quickly as she could. If Myotismon was in Shibuya, then Matt and TK were in danger. She told Patamon that as soon as he could he should digivolve, but until he did she would keep running after the two crests she could sense. A fog rolled in, but it wasn't a normal fog. Lightning flared into existence every so often, and as soon as she got closer so realized she could feel Gabumon's fear. She wondered when he had digivolved as she had been too distracted with Patamon to notice.

"TK's in trouble," Patamon suddenly announced fearfully.

"Digivolve then and we can get there quicker," Jade ordered. She felt Patamon nod before he launched himself off her head and burst into white light.

"Patamon digivolve to – Angemon!"

Jade grinned at seeing the angel in front of her. She had always loved Patamon's evolution, and the sense of flying on his back was exactly the same as when she went flying with Lucemon. Even with the situation as serious and dangerous as it was, a grin spread out across her face as she gripped Angemon's shoulders and the two of them rocketed to where Matt and TK were fighting. Gabumon had digivolved into Garurumon, and then digivolved to Weregarurumon.

"I'll jump off when you get closer so that you can fight without worrying about me," Jade called over the roar of the wind. She could transform, but she had faith in the digimon that they would survive. If it looked like they wouldn't she would step in. Angemon nodded and flew closer to the ground. Jade rested on the balls of her feet and jumped upwards. Angemon shot away from her, and as soon as Jade's feet hit the ground she rolled and stood back up. Her eyes followed Angemon to where he was rushing towards Myotismon and Weregarurumon, before looking back down for Matt and TK.

"Matt! TK!" she cried, spotting the two blonde boys standing close together. The two looked at her in surprise before the relief that they felt at her presence spread across their features. She ran up to them before turning her eyes back to the fight.

"You found Patamon!" TK said happily, hugging her tightly. She smiled at him and nodded, but her concern was to the battle above them. She couldn't understand why Myotismon was in Shibuya, she felt for sure that he knew the eighth child was in Odaiba. That meant that he was specifically hunting the digidestined, and that didn't bode well for any of them.

It was also a concern that the two digimon were losing. Matt's cries of encouragement were getting desperate, and TK was becoming scared, so Jade decided that she should join the fight. Before the two boys could figure out what she was doing she darted forward and caught fire, her wings bursting into existence to carry her up into the sky rapidly. She ignored the cries from below, the ones calling for her to return, and instead crashed into Myotismon and pushing him away from the other two digimon.

"Lady Sovereign," Myotismon said, dipping his head slightly to show respect, but his tone was sarcastic.

"Lord Myotismon," Phoenixmon said in the same tone. "What are you doing in this area? Surely you realise that the eighth child is not in this region?"

"Of course I know that," Myotismon replied. "Surely _you_ realize that finding the eighth child is not my only goal here?"

"No matter how powerful you become, you will never be able to beat Lord Lucemon," Phoenixmon continued.

"You did, and I am stronger than you thanks to the so-called Lord of Darkness. I will rule the Digital World, the Shadow World, and the Human World. There is nothing that will stop me from achieving my right."

"Your 'right'?" Phoenixmon asked in disbelief, a laugh in her throat. "You were created by Horcruxmon to enforce his rule in the Shadow World. You are purely dark, you cannot rule something you have no connection to."

"But that's where you're wrong, _My Lady_," Myotismon corrected with an evil grin. "The darkness in my soul was not from the Shadow World, nor was it from the Digital World. The Seeds of Darkness contain His spirit, and I in turn, became Him."

"You're not Myotismon…" Phoenixmon breathed, horror growing in her heart.

"This form is that of Myotismon," the digimon hissed at her, the darkness carrying his words to her ears alone. "But my soul…that is of another. I will retake my place as God, and this creature whose body I possess will make sure that I get my wish."

At that moment Weregarurumon and Angemon attacked and Myotismon fled. She stared after him, feeling fear in her heart, but chose not to speak about the conversation. She could tell that the other digimon were concerned about her, but she knew what she needed to do. She flew back down to the digidestined, remaining in angel form even when the other two de-digivolved.

"You're not coming with us, are you?" TK asked as he hugged Patamon tightly. Phoenixmon shook her head and knelt so that she was closer in height than before.

"There is something I must do," she said softly. "I must check on the others, rest well because the time to fight is near."

Matt nodded. He had one hand on TK's shoulder, and the other was resting on Gabumon's head, and while he looked reluctant he did understand that she needed to go. She smiled at the four of them, before disappearing into the sky again. She was going back to the Kamiya's, she needed to be close in case Myotismon attacked before they were ready.

* * *

Tai was beyond tired, but there was still so much that he needed to do. Walking around all day on little to no sleep, stressing out over Jade's well being, and having no success finding out the identity of the eighth child was wearing him down. All he had to do now was get inside his apartment, get Agumon something to eat and check in with the other search groups.

"You look tired Tai," Agumon told him as they walked from the elevator to the apartment.

"I am," Tai replied. "I could sleep for the next week if I was allowed to."

"You should sleep when you get inside," Agumon stated wisely. "You're not going to be able to help anyone if you're falling asleep on your feet."

Tai smiled with a short breath of laughter. He completely agreed, but he knew that the chances of him actually sleeping without seeing that everyone was alright were pretty slim. Still, he opened the door and stuck his head inside, calling out his usual greeting and checking to see if anyone was home. His mother answered his call, before informing him that he was late and that his dinner was in the fridge. Tai grinned at Agumon, before ushering him in so that they could get to his room without his mother seeing him. Agumon was tempted to tell him that his mother knew about him, but at her request he said nothing.

Tai smiled as he saw Kari sitting on the couch reading. A second glance showed that their cat Meeko was back from wherever she had run off to yesterday. Kari waved at him and came over to give him a hug. The phone rang and Tai picked it up as he pushed Agumon into his room. Kari remained where she was, her head resting on his chest and arms around his waist.

"Hello, Kamiya residence," he greeted.

"_Tai, you made it home then?_" Joe replied.

"Joe! Any luck with the eighth child?" Tai stated with a grin. He looked over to see if his mother heard, but she hadn't moved from the kitchen.

"_Kind of,_" Joe told him. "_I'm in Hinode at the moment, exams, but I wanted to check in on you as I haven't seen you since this morning. How are you doing?_"

"Good," Tai said honestly. "A little tired, worried about the others, but other than that I'm good."

"_Jade's fine as well,_" Joe reassured him, answering his unasked question. "_She happily played with Gomamon while I studied._"

"Where did she go afterwards? Did she get anything to eat? Does she know who the eighth child is? How did your exam go?"

"_I don't know where she went. She said something about tailing the eighth child, or meeting up with her spy in Myotismon's ranks, but other than that she was pretty mysterious about it all. She didn't eat anything at my place, and she never asked for it, but I'm positive that she had breakfast or found something to eat after she left. She does know who the eighth child is, and the original digidestined are on their way here. My exam? I failed, I know I did. I'm never going to get into medical school at this rate._"

"Chin up Joe, I'm sure you did fine," Tai said with a supportive tone. "When do you get back to Odaiba?"

"_In a few hours, I'm going to have some dinner and wait for my results. After that I'll get the train home._"

"See you tomorrow then," Tai said. Joe echoed his goodbye before hanging up, and as Tai put the phone down he looked at his sister still holding him. He tried to untangle himself from her, but she refused to be moved.

"Kari," he whispered. "Are you going to let go?"

"No," Kari muttered into his chest. "You were gone all day and you look really tired now."

"Then how about you grab us something to eat, and we can play in our room before bed?"

Kari hesitated, but in the end she released her brother to scamper into the kitchen. Tai walked into their room and collapsed backwards on the bed with a sigh of relief. His whole body was sore. His eyes closed as he searched for Jade, something he had done all day just to make sure that she was alright, and his concern grew when he realized that she was Phoenixmon at that moment.

"I brought you something to eat, Tai, Agumon," Kari stated. Tai opened his eyes to see her standing by the door uncertainly. Two bowls of food were in her hands, and he sat up to encourage her to come further into the room. Agumon accepted one bowl and practically inhaled it, and Tai took the second to eat at a slower pace. He asked Kari to tell him about her day, and she spoke of how she had gone looking for Meeko and spotted a few digimon. Tai had been alarmed when she said one had followed her home, but the cat hadn't hurt her and had left not long after.

All the blood drained from his face as he realized that Gatomon had been tailing his sister, and that she could have been killed while he wasn't there to protect her. Kari stopped talking and looked at him in concern, but all Tai did was pull her into a hug. He decided that when they went searching the next day he would take Kari with him to protect her. He didn't want her to be alone.

"Tai, I'm still hungry," Agumon informed him. He, too, was concerned that Kari was being followed by Myotismon's followers, but she was alright so that meant that she wasn't the one they wanted. And he had digivolved to Ultimate during the day so his energy was a bit low. Tai nodded to him and the three of them hid in the lounge room, with Agumon hiding under the coffee table. Kari grabbed a plate of watermelon, and Tai turned on the news to see what was happening in Japan with the digimon sightings.

He had no idea why there were digimon in Shibuya, he didn't know anyone in that area, but he also knew that TK lived a bit further out from Shibuya. It was possible that TK, and Matt who had taken him home, were involved in the most recent attack. The phone rang as Agumon came up for another slice of watermelon, and Tai answered it again. Kari's eyes followed him, and from the kitchen Yuuko watched her son in concern.

"Hello?"

"_Tai, it's Matt._"

"Hey Matt, did TK make it home alright?"

"_Yeah, he was happy to see mum again, but that's not why I called._"

"You were in Shibuya then?"

"_We were, but that's not all. Myotismon attacked us, he even killed two of his own henchmen. TK was pretty distraught, and I know Jade's scared._"

"Jade was with you?" Tai muttered, his face paling further.

"_She's the only reason we got away,_" Matt confirmed. "_I think she's heading back your way, she said she'd be checking in on everyone else. But Tai, whatever it is that Myotismon is planning, he's really dangerous. I have no idea what he's planning, but we all have to be on guard. We need to find that eighth kid, or at least get Jade to tell us who it is._"

"I'll ask," Tai promised. "Are you alright?"

"_I'm fine Tai,_" Matt said with a sigh. "_You, however, sound exhausted. Get some rest._"

"Goodnight Matt."

"Is everything alright Tai?" Kari asked.

"Yeah," Tai muttered as he put the phone down. "Meeko's trying to run away again."

Kari gasped as she spotted their cat making her way out to the balcony. She went outside to bring her back in, and Tai went into his room to sit at the desk. Myotismon had been in Shibuya, but why? It couldn't have been because Matt and TK were there, that had been a coincidence, so there had to be another reason. And why had Gatomon chosen his sister of all people to follow?

"Someone's out there talking to Kari," Agumon told him, breaking into his thoughts. Tai looked up from the desk and went outside in horror. Another digimon? Who was on the balcony?

"Who's there?!" he demanded as he charged outside. He had only moments to realise that Gatomon was sitting on the balcony rail staring at Kari curiously, another digimon that looked like a wizard was floating just off the ground, and Kari was standing close to the door to the lounge room.

"Tai!" Kari called happily.

"What are you doing to my sister?!" he demanded of the two digimon.

"We mean her no harm," the wizard said.

"Wizardmon?" Agumon asked curiously. "Are you Jade's Wizardmon?"

"The Little Princess spoke about me to you?" Wizardmon asked happily. "Yes, I am that Wizardmon, and her spy within Myotismon's ranks."

"You're a spy?" Gatomon asked. "For how long?"

"Ever since I met you," Wizardmon admitted. "I've known for a long time that you're the digimon partner of a digidestined, though I wasn't sure until I spoke with Jade about it. And now that we know who the eighth child is everything is about to get messy."

"Who is the eighth child?" Tai asked, still defensive but slightly calmer due to the fact that Agumon apparently knew of Wizardmon, and that Jade trusted him.

"Your sister."

The group of five on the balcony turned as another voice answered. Phoenixmon appeared from just above them, and as she fell she turned back into Jade and landed on the balcony next to Gatomon. The cat-digimon jumped off the balcony in shock, hiding slightly behind Wizardmon, but Tai, Agumon and Wizardmon grinned at the sight of her.

"Hi," she said softly. Tai jumped forward to hug her, pulling her off the balcony as he did so. She laughed and returned his hug, her arms tightening around his neck in concern. As Tai didn't seem to want to put her down she wrapped her legs around his waist. She greeted the others around her, reaching down to rest her hand on Agumon's head for a moment, before turning to Kari.

"Nice to meet you, Hikari," she said formally. "I'm Jade."

"It's Kari," the younger girl said with a smile. "I've heard so much about you. Did you like your bracelet?"

"I love it, thanks for helping Tai with it," Jade said with a blinding smile. Then she turned to Wizardmon and tilted her head curiously. "I thought you weren't going to bring attention to Gatomon and Hikari?"

"Gatomon started to remember after she met her this afternoon," Wizardmon explained. "I decided that it was time they met. You still have the digivice to confirm?"

"Of course," she said. She tried to pull her bag off her back, and managed with some difficulty as Tai hadn't put her down yet. Once the digivice was in her hand she passed it over to Wizardmon who it turn put it in Gatomon's paw. The digimon held it out to Kari, and as soon as the girl touched it, it lit up like a beacon.

"Taichi? Hikari? What are you doing out here?" Yuuko asked as she joined them on the balcony. She had seen the light and went to investigate. "It's far too late for you both to be….Wizardmon?"

"Yo-Yo," Wizardmon greeted. "It's been a long time."

"Don't call me that," Yuuko ordered. Her eyes traveled over the rest of the people and digimon on the balcony, hesitating a moment on Agumon before moving on. At last her eyes caught Jade, still in Tai's arms, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Lily?" she asked.

"Her daughter," Wizardmon corrected. His statement caused Yuuko's eyes to widen further and before she could stop herself she stepped forward and raised a hand to gently rest on Jade's cheek. Jade went very still as the woman's hand rested on her face, and she wondered what she should do. In the end she figured she'd deflect the woman's attention to something else.

"Gennai says hi," she muttered. "And that Guilmon misses you."

"Mum? What's going on? How do you know Wizardmon?" Tai asked. Yuuko's hand dropped from Jade's cheek as if scalded.

"She's the digidestined of Compassion," Jade explained, turning her attention to Tai. "She's the one who turned her back on the Digital World."

"Jade is our Sovereign," Agumon spoke up, looking at Yuuko. "She succeeded Lord Lucemon."

"You're the ruler of the Digital World?" Yuuko asked in fear. "But, you're still a child! How did this happen?! How are you alive?! I was told you died with your parents! I went to your funeral!"

"The others didn't tell you?" Jade asked, but on the inside she felt strange at the thought that she had a funeral. "I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle."

"Your Tai's Pen Pal," Yuuko realized. "And you're not treated right at home, but, you can't be a digidestined if you're the ruler."

"What have you been telling your parents?" Jade asked the boy holding her.

"Just the basics, but nothing about the Digital World," Tai reassured her. "But…mum, why'd you turn your back on the digimon?"

"Are you picking up Wisdom and Determination?" Jade asked as well. From the corner of her eye she saw Kari and Gatomon looking a little lost.

"They can make their own way here," Yuuko growled. "I'm still planning their demise."

"For not telling you that your children were digidestined?" Wizardmon asked with a smile. "They did try to contact you, but you weren't talking to them when they were deciding who would protect our world."

Yuuko didn't answer. Jade chose that moment to get her feet back on the ground, much to Tai's displeasure. He did as she wanted however, and Jade turned to Wizardmon to find out what his plan would be. Yuuko pulled her daughter into a hug, before pulling Tai across into one as well. Tai understood that she was afraid, and he was afraid as well, but there was no way he was going to turn his back on the Digital World now that he knew it existed.

"If we want to be able to defeat Myotismon, we need the crest of Light," Wizardmon said softly.

"But if you go after it now Myotismon will know that you've found her," Jade protested. "He's watching Gatomon closely. If she changes her behavior he will know!"

"I can get it," Wizardmon promised.

"He will kill you," Jade insisted, her voice softer and quieter. "He is not the protector that Tom created."

"Then it is even more important that we get that crest."

"I can get it," Gatomon spoke up. "He keeps it on himself for safe keeping."

"No!" Jade, Wizardmon and Kari cried. Jade continued, "If you go after the crest, he will use you to find Kari. That is the only reason he has kept you alive."

"How would you know that?" Gatomon asked her.

"Because I spoke with Tom about what Myotismon's plans might be and he said that if he ever wanted to find a digidestined he would use their digimon partner. No partner digimon can harm their human partner, they are protectors first. His plan will be to send you out to find the child, wait until you come for the crest, and then make his move on Japan. With the darkness as strong as it is I cannot fight him one-on-one and win."

"That's why you have us," Tai told her. "To protect you. We will fight in your place so that we can push back the darkness."

"You'll only be able to do that if you rest," Jade told him. "You're tired, did you sleep at all last night?"

"I slept until you were attacked," Tai admitted. "Why didn't you call for help?"

"I had the Japanese magicians helping me out."

"So what are you going to do?" Yuuko asked.

"I'm getting the crest," Wizardmon said instantly. "I won't ask you to come with me Gatomon, but you cannot stay here with Hikari just yet. Little Princess, you should head back to your classmates before a political war starts up."

"Tai, you should keep your sister's digivice for now," Jade spoke up. She disagreed with Wizardmon's decision but he was older than her and had fought with the digidestined for a lot longer. "It's still not safe for her to have it."

"I'll call Michael," Yuuko said reluctantly. "They'll be landing in Tokyo before making their way here. And I should probably look for my old digivice…"

"Will you be alright Gatomon?" Kari asked in concern.

"I'll be fine Kari," Gatomon promised. "Wizardmon, we need to go."

"I'll head back to Odaiba Elementary then," Jade said with a sigh. "Please at least try and rest tonight, Tai, call if you need help, and I'll see you in the morning…somehow."

Tai nodded. He pushed his mum's arms away from him before looking seriously at Jade. A change came over him, and Jade blinked in shock as she saw the boy before her change into a warrior.

"I await your call Lady Sovereign," he said with a bow. "We will defeat this darkness."

"Protector of Courage," Jade whispered. "I know."

With that she turned and jumped off the balcony. Wizardmon jumped after her, Gatomon in one of his arms, and with the other he wrapped it around Jade's waist so that she wouldn't crash to the ground. He told her that he would drop her off at Odaiba Elementary before going after the crest, and Jade nodded. Back on the balcony, Tai, Kari, Agumon and Yuuko watched them disappear.

"Mum? If you're a digidestined, and knew Jade's mum, does that mean that you could also use magic?" Tai asked. "Joe said he got invited to a school of magic last summer, but his parents declined the invite on his behalf while he was in the hospital."

"I studied at Mahoutokoro," Yuuko admitted as she ushered her children and Agumon inside again. "Lily studied at Hogwarts, in England, but she hated every moment of it. She would have joined me at Mahoutokoro when she was old enough, but she couldn't read, write or speak Japanese. There was a war that broke out in England while Lily was in school, and she was killed when she was twenty-one."

"You thought Jade was dead?" Kari asked.

"The last time I saw Lily and Jade was when we all went to the Digital World a few months after Jade was born. Michael, Lily and I brought our children to meet Gennai, and keep him company. You and Gennai got on really well, Taichi, and when we left he gave you those goggles that you're wearing. Michael and his son, Michael Jr., didn't stay for long but the two of you played well together. And then a year later I heard that Lily and her family had been murdered by some insane wizard, and I couldn't deal with that."

"So you turned away from magic," Tai said softly.

"All I could think of, was that if Lily hadn't had magic she would still be alive. I went to England after you were born Hikari, and I placed two deer haniwa, a doe and a stag, on the graves to protect them. After that I swore that I would have nothing to do with magic ever again, and that meant that I would never go to the Digital World again either."

"Why?" Kari asked.

"Because not just anyone can go to the Digital World," Yuuko explained as she brushed some loose strands of hair off of Kari's forehead. "The magic in our blood makes it possible."

"So Tai and I have magic in us?" Kari continued to prod.

"Yes," Yuuko forced the two children to wait in the lounge while she went to the kitchen. They watched her wander around before picking up an envelope that was hidden on top of the fridge. When she returned she passed it to Tai.

"This is your invite to Mahoutokoro," she explained. "School begins on September first, and I intended to discuss it with you once you got back from camp, but now…"

"We can still discuss it," Tai muttered as his eyes glanced over the words without much understanding. "But only after Myotismon is defeated."

"Very well," Yuuko agreed. "Now, tell me about the Digital World, and tell me how much it has changed to need the digidestined again."

Tai did so, with Agumon helping him when he got side-tracked. He never spoke of his injuries, but he made an effort to go into detail with Andromon, who was Gennai's digimon partner, Piximon, who had spoken to him about his anger problems, and their adventure to gather the crests. He knew that if he talked long enough, he would be able to distract Kari from thoughts of Gatomon, and his mother from her thoughts about what Jade was up to on her own.

If he had known what Jade was doing, however, he would have been by her side before anyone could tell him differently.

* * *

Michael glanced up at the airport clock with a frown. He hated when flights were delayed, especially as he was the one flying, but one in the morning was ridiculous. He was glad that Yuuko had apparently decided to stay at home, though he would have been beyond surprised if she had actually been there to greet them. Maybe they should have tried harder to contact her when they were choosing the new generation of digidestined, but she had made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with magic or the Digital World again.

Michael was the oldest in their group, having been sixteen when he first went to the Digital World. He had never wanted to be the leader of their group, that responsibility had gone the Gennai, he had been perfectly fine taking a step back. Gennai had been thirteen throughout their adventure, Akili had been eight, Yuuko had been twelve, and little Lily had been six. It had seemed unfair that a child as young as Lily was forced to protect the Digital World, but in the end she had proved she was the strongest out of all of them, fighting to the bitter end.

Yuuko hadn't been the only one to suffer after Lily had died. Everyone, human and digimon alike, had cried at the thought of their youngest friend dying first. For the digimon, it had been a lesson about just how fragile humans were. Humans weren't reborn like digimon. For humans, death was the end. Wizardmon had flown into a rage and disappeared for so long. Gennai had told him that the first time Wizardmon had been seen by anyone was when Lily's daughter came to the Digital World again.

Michael sighed as his thoughts turned to Jade Potter. Despite looking so similar to her mother, the two couldn't have been more different. Lily had been friendly to everyone. She hadn't known what true darkness was. There was nothing that could have pulled that smile from Lily's face. But Jade, in the beginning she hadn't known how to smile. She didn't trust humans, she preferred the company of digimon, and she'd had no regard for her own life. He only hoped that had changed now that she was older and, apparently, alive.

"You're thinking about Jade," Akili observed softly. "She's alive, and you said she sounded happy."

"The digidestined that we chose were to take our place as Lucemon's soldiers," Michael muttered back. "They were picked with him in mind, not Jade. Can they protect her? Did we choose the right people?"

"Jade is strong, we saw that often enough when we were visiting the old man," Akili continued as he dragged his suitcase behind him. "Obviously she cares more for humans than she used to as she is looking for the digidestined of Light, so maybe she feels a connection with the digidestined. We'll just make sure that these children know it's their job to protect her."

"They're all so young still."

"You're tired," Akili noted. "You've been flying for almost thirty hours and you're not thinking straight."

"I'll sleep once we get to Odaiba," Michael reassured him. "I didn't like the look of that fog, and I have this strange feeling that we need to be as close to Odaiba as possible. I also feel dread when I think about Myotismon. He's not a digimon that I'm familiar with."

"We can ask Jade about it when we see her," Akili promised. "Now move that tired and weary butt of yours. Hinode seems the best place right?"

"To Hinode we go!"

The fog that Michael had mentioned was thick and evil. Myotismon had created the fog after catching Wizardmon and Gatomon in his hideout looking for Kari's crest. Wizardmon was thought dead, having been dumped into the water after being defeated by Myotismon, and Gatomon was now a prisoner and bait to lure Kari out from where she was hiding. The fog kept everyone in, and everyone else out. This meant that of the eight children digidestined, only TK and Joe were on the outside, and everyone else was cut off from the rest of the world.

* * *

TK and Patamon were sleeping comfortably, recovering from the adrenaline from earlier that night, blissfully unaware of the fog. In contrast, Joe was still conscious and stressing out. His exam hadn't gone so well, and cram school had been so much worse. He was glad that Jade had insisted on him studying for the exam, otherwise he would have failed miserably. As it was, he had gotten a wretched 72%, his father would be very disappointed in him.

The trains hadn't been running to Odaiba at ten-thirty due to the fog, and the water taxis hadn't been running either when he got there at twelve. He had gotten a few odd looks, due to his age, but no one had bothered him. He had ended up outside the water taxi depot, in an area fairly empty, and was talking with Gomamon about what he learnt at school. The little digimon hadn't understood why learning about numbers was more important than learning about how to light fires or cook, or even how to swim. It was a long and tiring conversation.

"Well that's not good at all."

Joe looked up from his talk with Gomamon at hearing the words in English. He wasn't proficient in the language, but he knew enough to communicate on a basic level due to his father's insistence that communication between doctor and patient was almost more important than the actual healing. Gomamon had looked up as well, recognising the language as one he had heard Jade speaking when she was scared and earlier when she was on the phone.

Two men were standing next to each other, staring at the depot. The older man had blonde hair and looked incredibly familiar. It took a few moments for his memory to tell him that the man before him was Michael J Barton, the movie star from America. The other man was clearly African, and he had a tattoo on the back on his neck that reminded Joe of their crests, but not one he recognized.

"So how do we get to Odaiba, then?" the African asked.

"Don't know," the American replied. "But, I'm going to nap for a bit. When the sun comes up we can figure something out."

"Such a shame our partners aren't here," the African muttered. "We could have flown across or something."

Joe had no idea what they were talking about, and he kept his eyes on them as they found a spot nearby to rest. Gomamon remained hidden in the bag Joe carried around with him, he wasn't sure if he should pop out and talk just yet. Still, it was late and unless they planned on going anywhere soon it would be good to rest up while they could. He told Joe to rest for a few hours, agreeing with the English-speaking strangers that everything would sort itself out in once the sun rose. Joe agreed with him and lent against the wall to rest. Gomamon would keep watch, and then after that they would join the others.

It was the second of August, 1999.

* * *

**I'm alive! Sorry for the delay in updating this story, but I'm also working on an original story that I hope will be out in publication at the end of the year. It's nearly done, and I've set my deadline for the end of August. Hurray for me! Thanks for the support that I keep getting for this story, your reviews make me happy and motivated. The next chapter is nearly done, should be up in a few more days or so, depending on how well behaved my muse is. Thanks go out to Okami Princess for betaing this chapter!**

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 24: Myotismon Makes His Move_**


	24. Myotismon Makes His Move

**Intertwined Destinies**

_Gennai has given the digidestined bad news: there is an eighth digidestined in Japan, and Myotismon, their new enemy, is on his way to get her. It is now a race against time to get home. If they lose this race, it will be more than the Human World that is in danger...every world will be facing its destruction. The children and digimon have opened the Gateway to the Human World and are now home. All they have to do now is figure out who the eighth child is, and protect the child from Myotismon. Simple right?_

_All the children made it home to their families, and it came to light that Yuuko, Tai's mother, is aware of the Digital World. Only Agumon was aware of her knowledge, keeping it as a secret at her request. Jade was attacked by Bakemon after retrieving the eighth digivice and being kicked out of Odaiba Elementary by her cousin and his friends. She has also come into contact with the Japanese magicians, and the digidestined are aware that she is alright. She has visited Joe and got into contact with the original digidestined: Michael (Determination) from America, and Akili (Wisdom) from Africa._

_The eighth child has been confirmed as Tai's little sister Kari, and everyone is now in Japan even if they are not all within the fog barrier._

_The next chapter of their adventure awaits..._

Chapter 24: Myotismon makes his Move

* * *

August 2 1999

Jade had made it back safely to the school gym, but she had remained on the upper floors so that she wouldn't have to deal with her cousin. She had arranged it so that a few of her classmates had seen her, but they had never been able to get close enough to her to pull her back to the group. Wizardmon had contacted her an hour or so after he dropped her off, informing her of the good and bad news. The good news was that he had managed to grab Kari's crest, and would hold it until he could get it to Kari. The bad news was that he had fought against Myotismon, lost, and Myotismon had captured Gatomon to use as he had originally intended. She wasn't too impressed with that, but he promised that he would be fine until they met again. He also wouldn't admit where he was.

Now, with the sun cresting on the horizon, Jade was sitting on the roof of the school watching as a bunch of kids started to gather together on the school soccer pitch. They weren't English students, so that meant they were local kids. A flash of red attracted her attention, and Jade grinned as she realized that the red-head below her was Sora. She started to run down from the roof, through the corridors, and out on the oval. The only warning she gave to the older girl was a short mental tap to cause her to turn around, and then she was flying through the air to wrap her arms around Sora's neck.

"Jade!" Sora cried in delight as she caught her. Her joy faded as she realized the girl in her arms was shaking, and that she hadn't said anything.

"Are you alright?" she asked in concern. "They haven't hurt you have they?"

Jade hesitated. She had a cut on her face from the Bakemon, but all her other injuries from Dudley had been healed already. She could say that they hadn't hurt her, but she didn't like to lie. Sora saw her hesitation as a confirmation and tightened her grip. Her teammates looked at her in concern, having never seen the girl in her arms before, but not one of them came over to see if everything was alright. Sora gently put Jade down and cupped her face with both hands. She studied the scars on her face in worry.

"JADE POTTER!"

Jade flinched violently at the sound of her principal calling for her. Obviously she hadn't been as subtle as she had believed if the woman had spotted her and come outside to drag her back in. Sora's concern grew, and she pushed Jade behind her protectively as the woman marched up to her. She couldn't understand English, but she did understand that what that woman wanted wasn't in Jade's best interests.

"Princess?" she asked softly, ignoring Jade's sigh of annoyance. "What does she want?"

_Probably to drag me back to the others, deny me food for running away, or lock me up at the local police station to keep me away from the 'normal' students_

"Oh," Sora muttered, blinking as the girl's voice echoed in her mind.

"Where have you been?!" Ms Trish demanded. "Your cousin saw fit to tell us that you ran away yesterday. You're lucky we didn't call the police! As it is I am going to have a serious discussion with your aunt and uncle, and if you do something so reckless once more time, I will have you expelled and thrown into jail!"

Jade stopped listening half way through the rant, her eyes darting up as she realized that they weren't alone anymore. The soccer players started to scream as Bakemon started to fly down from the sky, each one grabbing a child and dragging him or her away. Sora cried out in horror, and Jade realized that she hadn't brought Biyomon with her. The Bakemon started to head towards the school, and Jade panicked at the thought of her classmates at the mercy of ghost digimon. She abandoned Sora's side and started to run back inside.

"Get away from me weirdo!" Dudley ordered as he tried to punch the nearest Bakemon. "Don't touch me!"

Jade sprinted into the gym to see dozens of Bakemon trying to grab the students. A few of them were getting annoyed with Dudley, and one looked ready to attack him. As much as she and Dudley didn't get along, Jade knew that she couldn't let anything happen to him. He was family, despite everything. She ran faster, seeing a Bakemon materialize his claws. Dudley cried out in horror, flinching backwards with his arms coming up to protect his face.

"Dudley! Duck!" Jade ordered as she came between her cousin and the ghost. She was facing her cousin, and yet even as ready as she was she couldn't help but scream out as the Bakemon's claws scrapped down her back. Dudley looked up in her with something other than hate on his face, in fact, Jade would go as far to say he looked worried and scared _for_ her, instead of being scared _of_ her. She tried to smile at him as her legs buckled, but failed as another Bakemon grabbed her and started to drag her away.

More students started to give up, and within a short amount of time they were being herded from the school to another building. Dudley appeared at Jade's side, throwing one of her arms across his shoulders to help her walk, and Sora darted up to her shortly after, almost crying as she spotted the blood on Jade's back.

"Jade…" she whispered.

"I'm fine," Jade promised, her voice startling Dudley as he didn't hear her talk often.

"What do we do?" Sora asked.

"We're all going to end up in the same place," Jade explained. "Once we get there, we'll see who else was captured and plan around that. I'll contact the others once we're settled."

"I'll see if I can find some bandages or something when we get there," Sora decided. "We need you in top condition to fight. Can you heal yourself?"

"In time, it's harder to heal myself than it is to heal others."

Sora nodded her understanding, staring at Dudley somewhat strangely, but otherwise didn't say anything. Dudley, seeing that their conversation was over, spoke up nervously and Jade looked at him in concern. She had never heard Dudley as anything less than confident.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked her. "After everything that has happened…why wouldn't you let me get attacked?"

"You're my cousin," Jade muttered. "Despite everything, despite how much you hate me, or how often you've hurt me…you're the only family I have left."

Dudley nodded and went quiet. She had clearly said something that upset him. Jade let him have his silence, and instead turned her attention towards the Bakemon leading them to their destination. She knew that Myotismon would be hunting for Kari, but as he was unaware of her identity he was probably gathering every child in Odaiba and getting Gatomon to pick out the one he wanted.

They were led to a large building, a place Sora called Big Sight, where there were already hundreds of people gathered, adults and children alike. The English students grouped together, but Jade stepped away from them and walked off with Sora. She realized, as she looked up at Sora, that the girl wasn't wearing her blue hat. She explained that if someone came looking for her they would find her hat and know that she was there, and hopefully come to rescue her.

"Mimi's over there," Jade said, pointing slightly off their path. Sora looked over the crowd, hoping to spot her friend, but couldn't see anything. She didn't doubt Jade, but she also saw no harm in tending to the girl's injuries before searching for the others. Sora used a cloth they had found in a cupboard and bound her back, making her look like a mummy. Jade didn't make a sound as Sora wrapped her up, but as Sora told her during the procedure, she should have Joe look at it later, just to be sure.

"Sora! Jade!"

The two girls turned and grinned as they saw Mimi making her way through the crowd towards them. She and Sora hugged, but then Mimi saw Jade's face and she screamed in horror. She started to babble about her scars, talking about teaching her how to cover them with cosmetics and getting revenge for her all in the same breath. Jade let her, slightly bemused and awestruck at how passionate Mimi was. Palmon came up to greet her as well, giving her a brief hug, but then Jade gave Mimi a hug to quieten her and look around for the others.

She explained to the two girls that Izzy was with Tentomon, but nowhere near Big Sight. Tai and Agumon were with Matt and Gabumon, Kari was with Tai but she didn't mention that as they were surrounded by enemies, and Joe and TK were the furthest away, on the other side of the river. It relieved the two girls to know that the others were safe, and understood that the place they were in was not the best place to talk strategy.

"Let me go! My children are out there and they are not going to be fighting this thing alone! Taichi! Hikari! Let me go!"

Jade looked up and smiled as she spotted Tai and Kari's mum, struggling against a man she assumed was her husband. She skipped over a smile, Sora, Mimi and Palmon trailing after her. Yuuko looked up at her appearance, her eyes darting between the three girls suspiciously.

"Tai and Kari are safe," Jade spoke up. "They met up with another digidestined."

"They're safe?" Yuuko asked in relief. "Thank goodness."

"This is Sora, Mimi and Palmon," Jade continued. "Sora's partner is elsewhere, but I know she's on her way here."

"You're digidestined?" Yuuko asked, her eyes now focused on Sora and Mimi. The two girls nodded, unsure if they should be confirming their identity but trusting Jade. Jade then turned to the two girls and smiled.

"This is the digidestined of Compassion," she stated. "Her partner is Guilmon."

"That's great!" Palmon cheered. "I didn't know that you lived in Japan. Do the others live here as well?"

"They're probably outside the fog barrier," Yuuko muttered, her features darkening. Susumu looked between his wife and the children in concern. It was obvious that Yuuko had never spoken to him about the Digital World, and the family would probably have a really long conversation after everything was over. He then looked towards Jade, and there was something in his eyes that made Jade feel uncomfortable.

With a quick glance at his wife he pulled Jade off to the side so that he could talk to her in relative privacy. Jade followed him, slightly curious about what he wanted to talk about, and apprehensive that he was leading her away from those she felt safe around.

"If I understand correctly," Susumu began slowly. "You're Taichi's Pen Pal?"

"Yeah," Jade said with a nod. She wrapped her arms around her waist nervously.

"Then, I would like to thank you."

"What?"

"I don't know what you talked to Taichi about, and I don't need to know, but ever since he met you he's changed. Turns out that there were some issues we weren't aware of with Taichi, but after he met you he came clean to us. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't met you, and I shudder to think about it, but I am grateful. So, thank you for being the friend that my son needed."

"You don't need to thank me for that," Jade muttered, embarrassed. "Tai helped me far more than I helped him. He saved my life."

"And you saved his, there is no doubt in my mind of that."

"You're welcome," Jade grinned.

"If you need anything," Susumu continued, completely serious. "Please don't hesitate to ask us. Even if it's a place to stay for the night, or company, or even someone to talk to, we will help you."

Jade felt tears appear in her eyes at the promise and took a steadying breath to prevent the tears from falling. Her smile at him reassured him that he had done the right thing. They went back over to the group where Jade walked over to Sora and Mimi, resting her head on Sora's arm.

Mimi mentioned that she wanted to get back to her parents before they really started to worry about her, and Sora said that she would go with her. Yuuko and Susumu apparently decided that they would stay near the girls and followed them off, but Jade had decided to go off in another direction. Susumu wasn't exactly thrilled that she was going off on her own, but Jade smiled at him childishly, before turning her attention to their surroundings.

Now that Yuuko knew that her children were alive and alright, she was more than happy to join in with the battle plans to get free from the Bakemon. Jade wandered off, checking in on the others who were captive to make sure that no one was seriously hurt.

"Watch out!"

Jade let out a yelp as she was yanked to the side and pulled up against someone's chest. She looked to where she had stood and spotted a scythe finishing its swing. If she had still been standing where she was, she would have been cut in two. Her eyes traveled upwards into Phantomon's grinning face. He stared at her for several moments, threat in his eyes, before moving onward to bother someone else.

"Are you alright?"

Jade finally turned her attention to the boy who had saved her. He looked to be around her age, with warm brown eyes and brownish red hair that stood up in every direction. He was wearing his pajamas with a jumper over them, like several children were, and he was clearly scared about everything. The arms holding her were shaking, and even though she had to look up to see his face, she felt safe. It was like being held by Tai.

"I'm fine," she whispered. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome," the boy whispered back. "I'm Daisuke, but you can call me Davis."

"I'm Jade," she told him with a smile, stepping out of his arms. "I'll remember you, and I'll repay you one day."

Davis watched her run off with a strange look on his face before he returned to his family. He didn't know why he had helped her, only that it had felt important. His dad wrapped him in a hug, berating him for putting himself at risk, but otherwise said nothing more. And Davis watched as the small girl with bright green eyes and dark brown hair disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

When Jade returned to the group it was to see that Mimi had been reunited with her family and a battle plan of sorts was being organised. Jade, however, had spotted the tiny baby Makoto, Mimi's baby brother, and couldn't help but stand over him and grin at him. He held her pinkie in his fist as he spoke to her in his baby language, and their laughter brought smiles to the group.

_Jade? Can you talk at the moment?_

Jade's grin widened as Tai's mental voice brushed across her mind. She made sure that she wasn't looking at the others so that they wouldn't see the slightly blank expression on her face as she "talked" with the boy.

_Yeah, are you somewhere safe?_

_I'm with Kari, Matt and our digimon. Agumon was hurt escaping from the Bakemon and when we're a little more recovered we'll come after you._

She was worried about Agumon, and stretching out her senses that bit more she noted that it was a simple flesh wound that was already healing and would be fine in an hour or so.

_We're all fine here,_ she told him. _Sora and Mimi are helping to arrange a break out, and your mum and dad are going to be leading the charge. Your dad is awesome by the way, he's going to lead the attack against the Bakemon while everyone else gets away. Mimi's brother is so cute, her parents are a little extreme, but I can see where Mimi gets her passion from. Michael and Akili should have arrived last night at some time, and hopefully they'll be able to get through the fog._

_Maybe they'll bump into Joe,_ Tai mused. _Or TK. If they manage to get together then the four of them could get across and help us out._

That sounded like a good idea. Before they actually went through with the breakout she would attempt to contact the two outside the fog barrier. Joe may have more of a chance meeting the older digidestined, as TK was a bit too young to be out without his mother and it was early in the morning. But still, they would need all the help they could get to defeat Myotismon and protect Kari. Speaking of Kari…

_Is Kari safe?_

_Yeah…_Tai said slowly.

_At the moment the most important thing is that Kari is kept safe and out of Myotismon's grasp. If you do come after us here, you had better make sure that she is safe._

_I'll leave her with Matt, he'll keep her safe. We're at Aqua City, when you break out make your way here._

_I'll pass on the message,_ Jade promised. _Now focus on yourself, and I'll see you soon._

Tai didn't answer, but Jade was happy either way. She pulled her hand free from Makoto and went to sit next to Sora and Mimi. The two girls were at the edge of the breakout/attack the Bakemon group and probably wouldn't be noticed too much.

"Tai's on his way here with Agumon," she muttered to the two. "He's at Aqua City, so when we get out you need to make your way there, alright?"

"Why's he coming here?" Mimi asked. "We can meet him there once we get out, no need for him to come all the way out here."

Jade just looked at her silently, one eyebrow slightly raised in question. Mimi stared back before blinking in understanding and sighing.

"Yeah, that was a pretty stupid question."

"It's Tai," Sora agreed with her. "Sitting on the sidelines is not something he's good at."

"It's why he's the captain of his soccer team," Jade stated with a wise nod. "I'm going to talk to Joe and TK, to see if they can make it into Odaiba with this fog, and if they've seen the other two digidestined."

"You mentioned them earlier, are they here?" Sora asked.

"I'm about to find out," Jade smiled. The two girls promised not to disturb her so Jade closed her eyes and allowed the others to think that she was tired. To make it look more realistic she pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on top of her knees. Her mind reached out towards Joe, as he appeared to be the most active at that moment.

* * *

Tai was thrilled when he and Kari had found Matt. Seeing his mum being dragged away by Bakemon, having Greymon attacked by Phantomon and being forced to abandon his mum so they could get to safety was hard. Greymon hadn't been able to stay in Champion form for long, and as soon as they were free of the crowds he de-digivolved to Agumon. With Kari's help, Tai had managed to get Agumon on his back and started to run with Kari's hand held in his right hand.

"Do you think mama's alright?" Kari asked softly.

"She's fine," Tai promised. "And so are dad, Gatomon, and Wizardmon."

"Where are we going?" Kari continued to ask.

"Matt's around here somewhere," Tai muttered. "I'm looking for him and Gabumon."

"How do you know?"

"It's something that I figured out to do a short while ago. Izzy called it telepathy, but I only picked up on it when I was searching for Jade. I can find the other digidestined fairly easily, but I can't find others unless I know them."

Kari nodded and remained silent. They were walking past Aqua City when Tai heard his name being called. He froze and spun around, pushing Kari behind him so that she would be safe, but relaxed when he realized that Matt was waving at him. He sighed in relief and pulled Kari inside the building so that they would be away from prying eyes.

"You look horrible," Matt told him as he knelt to let Agumon off his back. "What happened?"

"The Bakemon are rounding up everyone and taking them somewhere," Tai replied. "He's looking for Kari."

"Why is he looking for your sister?" Gabumon asked as he joined Agumon, looking briefly at the injury on his friend's arm.

"She's the digidestined we've been looking for," Tai explained. "Agumon, how's your arm now?"

"Almost healed," Agumon reassured him as Matt and Gabumon gaped at Kari. The girl ducked her head shyly and busied herself with Agumon's arm. Tai stood up straight, wobbled slightly, and walked off with Matt so that they could talk without Kari or the digimon listening in. Matt followed willingly enough, and once they were up against the stairs they started to talk. He sat down easily enough, though Tai remained standing with his arms wrapped around his body.

"Did you sleep at all last night? Or the night before?" Matt asked to start.

"Not really," Tai replied. "A few hours, maybe. But the first night I was worried about Jade, and then last night I had too much information running through my brain. Kari's the eighth child, Gatomon is her digimon, my mum was a digidestined, Wizardmon is Jade's ally…and now my mum's been captured by the Bakemon, and we're on the run, and I have no idea what to do."

"Breathing to start with would be good," Matt instructed. "Now, explain it all slower."

Tai sighed before doing as he was asked. He explained everything that had happened from the moment he put down the phone the night before up until he ran across Matt and Gabumon. The other boy listened in shocked amazement, and with growing concern. Tai was stretching himself thin, again, and at the back of Matt's mind he blamed himself for that. He was the one who had first nominated Tai as their leader, and while Tai had led them since the beginning, having the title was like dropping a heavy cape of responsibility on his shoulders. He was going to wear himself out at the rate he was going.

"Well, damn," Matt muttered. "Have you done that telepathy thing to find the others yet?"

"I used it to find you," Tai replied as he leaned against the stair railing. "That's why we headed in this direction. The others were too far away, and I think Joe is on the other side of the river. Sora, Mimi and Jade are together, so are my parents. Izzy is alone, he might be with his parents but I don't know."

"Talk to the others," Matt suggested. "Talk to Jade and find out what's happening. She knows something about Myotismon that she didn't share with us, and if you talk with her you can find out what the plan is."

Tai nodded and sat on the floor cross-legged. For some reason it was really easy to talk with Jade, but if he wanted to talk with the others is was a lot harder. Finding them was one thing, talking was another.

_Jade? Can you talk at the moment?_

_Yeah, are you somewhere safe?_

_I'm with Kari, Matt and our digimon. Agumon was hurt escaping from the Bakemon and when we're a little more recovered we'll come after you._

_We're all fine here,_ Jade continued. _Sora and Mimi are helping to arrange a break out, and your mum and dad are going to be leading the charge. Your dad is awesome by the way, he's going to lead the attack against the Bakemon while everyone else gets away. Mimi's brother is so cute, her parents are a little extreme, but I can see where Mimi gets her passion from. Michael and Akili should have arrived last night at some time, and hopefully they'll be able to get through the fog._

_Maybe they'll bump into Joe,_ Tai mused. _Or TK. If they manage to get together then the four of them could get across and help us out._

_Is Kari safe?_

_Yeah…_

_At the moment the most important thing is that Kari is kept safe and out of Myotismon's grasp. If you do come after us here, you had better make sure that she is safe._

_I'll leave her with Matt, he'll keep her safe. We're at Aqua City, when you break out make your way here._

_I'll pass on the message,_ Jade promised. _Now focus on yourself, and I'll see you soon._

Tai opened his eyes and stared across the room to where Kari and the two digimon were looking towards him in worry. Matt was still next to him, but he didn't look concerned. If Tai hadn't known better he would have said that the blonde boy was sleeping.

"The others are fine," he muttered to Matt. The boy opened his eyes. "Sora, Mimi and Jade are attempting a break out and will make their way here. I'm going to go and meet them, you mind waiting here with Kari?"

"You're going alone?"

"I'll have Agumon with me, but the most important thing is that Kari stays out of Myotismon's hands," Tai promised. "I'm entrusting her to you while I do this."

"I won't let you down," Matt promised.

"I know," Tai grinned. "I already trust you with my life, and now I trust you with hers, just as you've trusted me with TK's."

Tai held out his hand and the two of them gripped each other's forearms. The digimon and Kari blinked at the interaction between the two boys and then looked up curiously as they made their way over to them.

"You feel up to some travelling Agumon?" Tai asked.

"I'm ready!" Agumon announced happily as he stood up.

"Excellent," Tai told him before turning back to Matt. "It's seven-thirty, if I'm not back in two hours move to another place. Find the others and we'll meet back when we can."

"You're leaving?" Kari asked. Tai looked down at her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm going to go after mum and dad," he explained gently. "I want you to wait here with Matt and Gabumon. They'll protect you while I'm gone."

"Are you going to get hurt?"

"I'm going to try not to."

"I don't like it when you come home hurt."

"Neither do I," Tai admitted with a smile. "Can you be brave for me? Stay safe while I'm gone?"

"Bring mum and dad back," Kari requested.

"I'll be back soon, I promise," Tai whispered, kissing her forehead. "Come on Agumon."

The two of them ran off, and Matt watched them go. He nodded to Gabumon to show that he would talk with him later, but for the time being he settled himself next to Kari to distract her. He told her about how he and Gabumon had ended up in Aqua City, and how they had managed to avoid the Bakemon, before moving on to tell her about some of their adventures. Yet, as he spoke he couldn't help but worry that something bad was going to happen.

* * *

Joe yawned loudly as he woke up and realized that the sun had risen and all he could see of Odaiba was all wall of fog. Gomamon perked up as he realized that his partner was awake, his head poking out of the bag excitedly. Joe rubbed his eyes as he stood up, stretching out all the kinks that sleeping upright had caused.

"Alright!" he stated loudly through another yawn. "To Odaiba we go!"

"How are we going to get there?" Gomamon asked.

"I don't know!" Joe exclaimed in the same tone. Gomamon sighed, not really surprised with the answer. Joe walked back into the taxi terminal, a small hope in the back of his mind that the taxis would be working again, but there was no such hope even if there were a great deal more people lining up. Getting in was seemingly the easiest thing to do, getting out on the other hand, that was a bit more difficult.

"Air!" Joe cried as he made it out of the crowd. "I don't know why I thought that time would be different!"

"Yeah," Gomamon agreed. "But at least we now know that TK and Patamon are here."

"We do?"

"Yep, I could sense Patamon when the crowd started to push," Gomamon explained. "He'll lead TK out here as soon as he can."

"I see," Joe muttered. "Well then, if they're making their way towards us I'm going to go and sit near the water in preparation."

Gomamon said nothing, but off to the side he could see the two men from the night before staring at them curiously. It made him worried, but his thoughts then turned to the Japanese magicians that Jade had spoken about. It was possible that the two were a part of that group, but somehow he didn't expect that to be the case.

_Joe? Are you free to talk?_

Joe flinched as he heard Jade's voice, spinning around wildly to look for her. Gomamon looked up at him in concern, but as Joe's brain caught up with his racing heart he realized that he was hearing Jade in his head.

_You scared me,_ he thought towards Jade. She just giggled into his mind before continuing.

_Where are you?_

_Hinode Water Taxi Terminal,_ Joe sighed. _Nothing can get in passed the fog. TK's here as well, and I'm waiting for him to join me before we attempt swimming on Ikkakumon._

_Sounds like a good plan,_ Jade agreed. _Have you spotted the original digidestined? Michael's an American, and Akili is African. They would have spoken English as I'm not sure if they know Japanese and English was the only common language that the original group had in common._

_You mean those guys who keep staring at me are digidestined?!_ Joe spluttered in his mind. He spun so that he was staring directly at the two men, suddenly understanding why they had watched him. They had either recognized him from what Jade had told him, had chosen him four years ago to be a digidestined, or they had heard Gomamon talking.

_So they made it to Japan alright then?_ Jade asked in excitement. _I haven't seen them in a while and I don't know what they feel like so I can't talk to them, but you could get Gomamon talk to them for me and help them across. Will Ikkakumon be able to carry them as well?_

_Yeah…_Joe admitted. _Hang on, I'm going to talk to them before we creep each other out further._

Jade said nothing to that, so Joe assumed that she agreed with his plan. Gomamon asked him what he was doing as he walked over to the men who hadn't moved just yet. They stared at each other silently once Joe was closer, and then Joe held out his digivice as if it were an id card that would explain everything. The two men sighed in relief and pulled out two digivices that were like Joe's but clearly an older model.

"I thought you were a digidestined," Michael stated as he slipped his digivice back into his pocket. "But I couldn't be sure."

"That's alright," Joe told him in tentative English. "I had no idea who you were until Jade said to look out for you."

"You know Jade?" Akili asked instantly. "Oh, I'm Akili, that's Michael."

"Joe," the boy stated before opening his bag to show the digimon inside. "And this is Gomamon. There is another digidestined inside the terminal still, and I am waiting for him before going across the river."

"Could we join you?" Michael asked.

"Sure, Ikkakumon could carry us all."

"I don't get a choice in the matter?" Gomamon asked, though Joe could tell he was joking.

"Of course you do," Joe told him with a smile, now speaking Japanese. "They can either sit on your back with me and TK or be dragged along in the water behind us."

"That's cold," Gomamon informed him before grinning. "But I like it. How'd you know that they were digidestined?"

"Oh! That's right," Joe uttered. He swapped back to English. "Jade is inside the fog with the others, but she is looking forward to seeing you."

"So you do know her," Akili stated. "How did you meet?"

"Summer camp. We were all sucked into the Digital World together, but she only regained her memory after we met up with Piximon."

"So that 'mon is still alive?" Michael stated fondly. "Well, if Gennai is still alive then I guess Piximon would have to be as well."

"Joe!"

Joe turned slightly and smiled as he spotted TK with Patamon in his arms running towards them. The boy slowed slightly as he spotted the older men, but didn't stop until he was at Joe's side.

"Ah, the Child of Hope," Michael realized, smiling at Patamon. "You, Light and Courage were my choices."

"You chose TK to be a digidestined?" Patamon asked curiously.

"This is Michael and Akili," Joe explained to TK. "They're the original digidestined Jade told us about, Gennai's team."

"Cool!" TK stated with stars in his eyes. Then his expression fell slightly. "But how do we get in?"

"I've got a plan for that, but first I need to finish talking with Jade. I kind of left her in the middle of our conversation."

TK's eyes widened further, and the two digimon looked towards him as well. Joe didn't really know how to get in contact with Jade, having never done it before, but he closed his eyes and tried to find the bright presence he had felt when she was talking earlier.

_I'm here Joe,_ she said with laughter. _Not for long, as we're about to try and break out, but I can talk for a few minutes._

_Well, I have TK, Michael and Akili with me,_ Joe explained. _And we're about to attempt to cross the river. Where are you? How are the others?_

_At Big Sight with Sora and Mimi. Tai is on his way here with Agumon, but Matt is waiting at a rendezvous point with Tai's sister. Izzy is moving somewhere with Tentomon, but I don't really know what he's doing yet. My classmates are all huddled up and freaking out about the ghosts that attacked them, so I know that I'll get the blame for that somehow._

_Why did Myotismon block off Odaiba?_

_Because he knows that the eighth child is here, and he's using Gatomon to find her. It's about to get messy really quick so come across as fast as you can, alright?_

_Will do. And Jade…be careful._

_You too._

"Alright," Joe stated as he opened his eyes. "Myotismon knows that the eighth child is in Odaiba and is using Gatomon to find her; Jade, Mimi and Sora were captured by Bakemon, if I understood the ghost comment right; Tai's running towards them to be the hero; Matt is waiting at the rendezvous point; and Izzy is doing something with Tentomon."

He had spoken in Japanese for TK, but apparently Michael understood a little of what he was saying as he translated for Akili. The two men nodded to him once he finished, and Joe turned to Gomamon so that he could digivolve. The little digimon jumped into the water mid-digivolution and soon they could hear the cries of "monster!" from inside the terminal. Joe jumped up first before holding out a hand for TK to sit behind him. Michael and Akili jumped on to Ikkakumon's lower back and made themselves as comfortable as possible.

"Takeru! What are you doing?! Get down from that thing!"

"Oops," TK muttered before looking down to the woman running along the pier next to them. "Don't worry about me mum! I'll be fine!"

"Don't worry Ms Takashi!" Joe called down as well. "I'll make sure that nothing happens to TK! He'll be safe with me!"

"Takeru!"

"I'll bring back dad and Matt!" TK continued to yell. "Everything will be alright!"

"That's not what I'm worried about!" Natsuko cried.

"I'll see you later mum!" TK finally called as the pier ended and his mother couldn't follow them anymore. Joe said nothing about the boy's farewell, instead he turned to the other two passengers. They had a lot to talk about before they made it to Odaiba.

* * *

Jade opened her eyes after talking to Joe, passing on to the two girls that Joe, TK , Michael and Akili were on their way across the river. It caused get relief in the two girls, but Yuuko, who had overheard her statement, had frowned. Her fingers rested lightly on her pocket, but it was more to find out that the device in her pocket was still there.

The plan to escape Big Sight was rather simple: the men would cause a diversion and attack the Bakemon with whatever they could find, while the women and children would run out and try to get to safety. Sora had argued that they needed to chant "Bakemon lose your power" to zap the ghost digimon of their strength, as it was something that Joe had successfully managed back when Devimon was still their enemy. It energized everyone around them, but the digidestined and Jade were a bit more apprehensive about the plan. No one knew Myotismon better than Jade, and she knew that there was no chance he would allow anyone in the center to escape.

She did her best though, standing with Yuuko as they started to attack. Susumu kissed his wife before he went off to cause havoc and rested his hand briefly on Jade's shoulder, but he was soon gone with determination to give the others a chance to escape. Sora led the group of women and children, chanting the same thing over and over to divert the digimon who had chosen to come after them. Mimi stuck close to her parents, her worry over them and her brother easy to see. The children from England followed Jade at Dudley's urging, as the boy understood that Jade knew what she was doing and if it got them to safety he was willing to follow her lead. It helped that she had given him a hurried explanation of the plan before it went into action.

But now, with most of the women and children outside, and the men still stuck inside fighting, Jade felt the most worry. Getting out had been way too easy. Somewhere along the way their group had become separated, and Sora had gone off in another direction to see if there were any more people who could be encouraged to escape. There were several magicians in the group, and some of the Bakemon had mysteriously burst into flames. The general consensus was that there were other monsters attacking, but only Jade, Yuuko, and the perpetrators knew the truth.

"We made it!" Mimi said excitedly. Jade sensed another presence approaching them, this one afflicted by a dark virus, and turned to shout out a warning. Palmon digivolved to fight against the DarkTyranomon, and Jade hesitated on what she should do. She was next to Yuuko, who was being slightly overprotective of her, and her classmates. Every single one of them looked to her as if she had the answer to their problem, and her eyes locked with Dudley's.

"Don't go," Dudley told her, seeing the determination in her eyes that he hadn't really seen before. "It's too dangerous."

"I'm sorry Dudley," she told him softly. Yuuko's hand tightened around her own. "But this is where I have to leave you."

"Why do you have to do it?!" Dudley demanded of her. Mimi screamed out in horror as Togemon fell from an attack by DarkTyranomon. She felt the other girl's crest come to life and looked up to see the giant cactus digimon digivolve into a fairy digimon, Lilymon. Jade looked back at Dudley and smiled, her first true smile in his direction. He staggered backwards in shock, even as the Bakemon reappeared to herd them back into the building.

"Because it's who I am," she said.

And then she was gone. She had shrugged away Yuuko's restraining hand and ducked through the rush of people so that she could become free to transform. She could feel Myotismon's malicious presence coming closer, and even as Lilymon used a flower wreath to counteract the virus in the digimon she knew that she wouldn't get there fast enough to make much of a difference. She heard her name being called by several people behind her, and then from Mimi as well as she saw her trying to get closer to the fight.

DarkTyranomon was deleted effortlessly by Myotismon as soon as he recognized that his minion was useless to him, and then he turned to Lilymon with the intention of doing the same to her. Flames burst into existence around Jade as she transformed into Phoenixmon and thrust herself into the sky, but even as she flew she knew that she was too far away. Lilymon cried out as she tried to dodge Myotismon's attacks, and in another part of the building Biyomon digivolved into Birdramon. It made Jade happy that Sora had been reunited with her partner, but she didn't let her joy affect her movements.

"_Dead Scream!_" Myotismon suddenly screamed, and a black mist sprung from him to wrap around Lilymon. The scream that the fairy digimon released was chilling, but not as much as watching how her color was sucked out of her, and her sudden cessation of movement which caused her to fall towards the ground. Phoenixmon changed her flight path and caught the digimon in her arms. Her green eyes glared up at the vampire digimon who merely laughed at her look.

_Birdramon,_ Phoenixmon thought towards the firebird. _I need you to grab Lilymon and the girls and get out of here._

_And you?_ Birdramon thought back at her in concern.

_I need to keep Myotismon distracted, he cannot be allowed to win this fight._

_Very well, I'll grab Sora and then I'll be by your side._

Phoenixmon flew further away from Myotismon, her arms tight as she held on to Lilymon. Myotismon just laughed harder, the screams from the people below providing a backing track to his evilness.

"No matter what they do," Myotismon told her. "They will never be able to defeat me. Your powers are weak, _My Lady_, your other half is nowhere near you, and the digidestined are scattered throughout the city. You have no chance!"

"You forget, _My Lord_," Phoenixmon told him in response, her mind tracking Birdramon's location. "That the digidestined were created for this purpose. No matter how powerful you think you are, you are hampered by that body. You will be defeated, and I will see peace returned to this world, the Digital World and the Shadow World. You will never get your hands on Lucemon, you will never do what you want to achive, because every time you try I will be there to send you back to the Hell you came from."

"Insolent brat!" Myotismon snapped at her, all laughter gone from his voice. "You think that just because you are Lucemon's successor that you can order _me _around?! I am GOD!"

The time had come, and even though Birdramon was a short distance off Jade still threw Lilymon in her direction just in time to defend herself from Myotismon's attack. When they collided a shock wave spread out away from them, the force of the wave sending the remaining humans to the ground to stay in one place. Mimi was herded back inside and was unable to join Sora on Birdramon's leg. Birdramon had her partner on one of her legs, and in the other was Lilymon's limp form.

Despite wanting to stay, Birdramon obeyed Jade's order and escaped from the area to meet up with the other digidestined. As she was she had no chance against Myotismon. Phoenixmon was relieved when Birdramon left, but slightly disappointed that Mimi was still being held at Big Sight, having been unable to escape. Yuuko was still fighting with a few of the other magicians, fire colliding with the Bakemon far more often than before, but the woman's attention was focused on the sky as Phoenixmon and Myotismon fought furiously.

Phoenixmon had to admit it, even to herself, that she was unable to best Myotismon as she was. There was too much darkness in the Digital World, and too little of the Shadow World, to give her the power she needed to succeed. Myotismon was that bit better than her, and without using the power of the digidestined, she wouldn't be able to win. Myotismon knew it as well, but that didn't mean that he took her lightly. He was doing his best to kill her.

And then he spotted an opening in her defense.

She had left herself open after deflecting his last attack, her reaction time that smidgen too slow to avoid the next attack, and her eyes widened as a blade of red mist formed instantly. All she could do was watch as the blade snuck in passed her golden staff and plunged through her chest. The two of them were frozen. Phoenixmon wrapped her hands around Myotismon's, and stared down into her eyes. They were a chilling blue, but behind the hate and the anger was horror. To her, that meant that there was still a tiny part of the digimon before her that was free from the corruption inside his body. There was still a chance that the digimon could be saved.

But that time was not now.

Phoenixmon felt her transformation fade until she was just a little girl hanging in the air with a red blade sticking out of her back. Her world started to turn black, and all that she could hear in her mind was Myotismon's laughter. She went limp, and her last feeling was falling through the air. She wasn't conscious when the fall ended.

* * *

Across Odaiba, sixteen souls cried out in horror.

Joe gasped halfway through his explanation of what the digidestined were up against, his hands grasping his chest as if to stop his heart from breaking apart. Ikkakumon cried out and nearly threw off his passengers, but managed to control himself in time to prevent that from happening. TK grabbed his head in pain, eyes closing as waves of pain hit him, and Patamon curled up into a small ball on Ikkakumon's head. Michael and Akili didn't react, but they seemed to realize that something bad had happened.

"Jade," TK whimpered pitifully. "Something bad happened to Jade."

"Ikkakumon," Joe managed to gasp out. "Please, go faster. Something just went really wrong."

"I'm stepping on it Joe," Ikkakumon promised as he picked up speed. "I felt it too."

Izzy staggered to his knees just before he entered the Fuji TV Station, arms barely catching him before he face planted on the ground. He was panting as if he had just run a marathon, but he knew deep in his heart that something really bad had just happened to Jade. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. Tentomon wasn't much better, his wings freezing for a short moment as he landed back on the ground. The two of them looked at each other, determination on both their faces. They didn't need to talk as they came to the same decision: continue with the mission so that they could defeat Myotismon.

Sora nearly fell from Birdramon's leg as pain erupted over her body. She knew that she wasn't hurt, and there were no digimon nearby who could have attacked her, so that meant that it was purely psychological. She also knew instantly that the cause of pain had been Jade, and that she wasn't aware of the pain she was sending their way. She looked back as soon as she opened her eyes, hoping to see some sign of what had happened. But they were already too far from Big Sight to see it.

"Sora, did you feel that?" Birdramon asked in a pain-filled voice.

"Something happened to Jade," Sora confirmed. "But I can't see what it was. We need to go back."

"I can't do that," Birdramon groaned out. "She ordered me to get you and Lilymon to safety, back to the others so that we can fight as one instead of separately."

"Then we need to go faster," Sora decided. "The sooner we're together the sooner we'll be able to fight back and find out what happened."

"I agree," Birdramon stated before picking up the speed. There was no way that Myotismon would be able to get away with hurting their Sovereign, not while they still lived at any rate.

Matt's breath caught in his throat as the pain washed over him, but despite how sudden the feeling was he couldn't focus on it as Kari had started to scream in pure agony. Vague memories of what he had done with TK when they were younger appeared in his mind and he pulled Kari into a hug. Her small hands gripped his shirt as she started to cry, and Gabumon hugged her from behind. One look at his eyes and Matt knew that he was feeling the same thing that they were, and he knew deep in his heart that something had happened to Jade.

"Tai's going to go nuts," Matt muttered.

"I hope Myotismon's ready," Gabumon agreed. "Cause as soon as Tai gets there he's going to be in a world of hurt."

"He stabbed her!" Kari sobbed. "The vampire looking digimon stabbed her right through her chest! And she fell! She fell!"

More sobs burst from Kari's throat and Matt remembered what Tai had said the day before. Even without knowing Jade, Kari had seen her attacked in her dream and knew what had happened before anyone else had, and now she had seen Myotismon attack her. Matt hoped that Jade was alright, he hoped that she was still alive, otherwise the incident with SkullGreymon would likely be repeated and there would be nothing left of Odaiba. Tai would do everything he could to help his partner destroy everything in revenge due to the grief he would feel at losing her.

Gatomon didn't know what had happened, only that she was in pain. She was alone for the first time since being captured the night before, with Demidevimon looking out over the children that had been collected so far and Myotismon disappearing to deal with a problem. Her chest felt like it was being crushed, but she knew that Kari was alright. No, her pain came from somewhere else, and it meant that the situation had just gone from bad to worse.

Mimi saw it happen. She had been almost inside when she had looked up one last time and watched as the red blade went right through Phoenixmon, and then Phoenixmon reverting to her human form. The image of a child being run through with a sword would probably stay with her for the rest of her life, the pain that accompanied the strike would probably haunt her in her nightmares, and the vision of Jade falling down to the ground far below would never leave her. It was almost a relief to be pushed inside so that she wouldn't have to see Jade crash to the ground, but her tears and screams were still powerful enough to attract the attention of others around her. Her eyes fastened on Jade's cousin, and all she could think of was how much he had hurt her. It was time she gave him a piece of her mind.

Tai knew the moment that the pain had struck that there was something wrong with Jade. He didn't scream in agony, he didn't collapse to the ground, and he didn't stop running. What he did do, however, was clutch his chest in pain, the same place where Jade had just been stabbed, and narrow his eyes in hate and anger. Agumon knew what had happened as well, being in tune with Tai's emotions as he was, and used his power to tackle him to the ground.

"Get off me Agumon! There's a digimon that's going to die today!"

"Tai! Stop it! You're hurting me!" Agumon told him as he wrapped his arms around his partner's waist. Tai stopped struggling and fought to take in a calming breath. Tears appeared in his eyes but he didn't allow them to fall.

"He hurt her," he muttered to the digimon.

"I know."

"She's just a kid."

"I know."

"He needs to die."

"I know."

"Then why are you stopping me?!"

"Because if you fight as you are now, I'll digivolve into SkullGreymon and I'll probably die as well. Then you'll be completely alone and you'll probably find a way to kill yourself. Jade is not dead, I know you can sense that. You're more in tune with her than any of the others, including us digimon. So think about what you're doing and then we'll go after Myotismon and defeat him together."

Tai took in a deep breath before sitting up. He thanked Agumon with a short hug before standing and looking in the direction of Big Sight. Clearly the escape plan had failed, and now there was a casualty. He would be damned if he allowed anyone else to get hurt because of Myotismon, and he hoped that Sora, Mimi and his parents were still alright as well.

Yuuko broke free from the wizards surrounding her and attacking the Bakemon, calling over her shoulder for them to protect the others back in the building. The obeyed her, and she would probably feel shocked about it later, but at that moment her entire focus was on the small child falling at high-speed towards the ground. Back before she had given up magic, she had been among the most talented at school. Her friends had jokingly called her an escape artist due to her talent with getting away where others couldn't.

Her talent had appeared when she was in the Digital World, and at twelve she hadn't been brave in the slightest. She had managed to perfect teleporting, or apparating as she later figured out it was called, with her four friends holding on to her. Lily had always looked up to her, Akili had seen her as an older sister to mess around with, Michael had looked to her as a younger sister and Lily as his daughter or niece, but Gennai had trusted her as a capable young women and often talked with her about the plans that he was coming up with. He was the one who encouraged her to perfect teleporting.

And now she was using that skill again, and it was like she hadn't given up on magic at all. Her body moved through the air to appear a few feet below Jade, with enough time wrap her arms around her, and then she teleported away from Big Sight. There was no way that she would allow Lily's daughter to share the same fate as her mother.

* * *

Deep in the Shadow World, hard at work in repairing everything, Horcruxmon froze. He could feel Jade's life-force waning, like it had many years before, but there was something different about this occasion. It was like there was something preventing her life force from completely disappearing, a bond of some description.

The dark digimon pondered it as he considered going to the Human World to kill the one who had hurt his partner, before he realized what it was. He and Jade had always had a connection, but it wasn't a natural connection. He wasn't supposed to exist, his entire existence was a mistake of epic proportions. If the ritual had worked properly, Jade would have been free from evil and he would have disappeared into oblivion. But Jade hadn't wanted him to die, so he was forever bound to her.

The bond that was keeping Jade from death now, however, was a bond between her and another human. A true soul bound, one that would have formed naturally over time, anchored Jade to the realm of the living, and he had a suspicion as to the human keeping her alive.

He chuckled, his laughter carrying over the newly restored islands in the Shadow World.

"I see!" he cried. "Your path has been chosen! Live, Master! I approve!"

* * *

**And the end of another chapter! I wasn't really sure about this last part, which is why it took so long to upload, but I decided to put it up anyway and see what you guys think of it. Everything is picking up now (yay!) and I suspect that in the next few chapters we will be able to finish the Myotismon arc and move onto the Dark Masters. No promises on when that chapter comes out, but I am working on it. Thanks go out to Okami Princess for betaing this chapter, and to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome!**

**Till next time!**

* * *

**_Next up in Intertwined Destinies:_**

**_Chapter 25: The Power of Loyalty_**


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